Fungus Fun

Plump and wild, growing as round and expansive as the sun,

soft mushrooms blossom and surge

across hidden corners of the earth.

They burst forth and have some fun,

wedging themselves in new lands, like a foreigner yearning

to claim a slice of home for themselves.

Their fatty white shoots sprout from damp pockets of the bark,

and glide upwards to the leaves, not yet dead, but clasping

with their final breath.

Their heads open in soft white question marks,

as their thin bodies feed under shadows,

the remainder of the trees' preserved sugar.

The inner workings of photosynthesis, the dew, and the sap,

keep the fungi in place, happy and content.

How far have they traveled across our map?

What underworld has brought them forward

to be so plush and unreserved?

Look how closely they resemble a beloved companion,

no, look even closer,

at the hungry caterpillar eating at its charitable meat.

Dare to gaze closer still,

at the wild roots intertwined in the dense moss,

the fungi are hard at work,

ensuring no nutrients from the dying tree are at a loss.

Do you see clearly now?

The mushroom,

in all its joy and growth,

has not forgotten to give.

Ah, this being, complex and lush,

their dazzling reds create a startling warning

against the browns of the sleeping bush.

Their yellows and humble browns

remind us of this glorious season

and its fleeting release from the former season's heat.

Oh, magnificent fungus, so quiet and pristine,

you are just one of the many wonders

Autumn enchants, possesses, and brings.