MIND THE MUSHROOMS

THE DAY BEGAN AS USUAL

WITH COFFEE AND SOME TOAST

WHEN I CATCH A GLIMPSE OF SOMETHING MOVING

ALONG THE FOGGY MORNING COAST

.

WHAT’S THAT I WONDER, I SQUINT MY EYES TO SEE

A DARK FORM LURKING, AS IT HID BEHIND A TREE

WHATEVER COULD THAT BE I PONDERED

IS THERE SOMEONE WATCHING ME?

.

I SPREAD SOME JAM UPON MY TOAST

AND THOUGHT IT COULDN’T BE A GHOST

BUT OF ALL THE THINGS I EVER LOST

I MISSED MY MIND THE MOST

.

A BASKET ON THE COUNTER FILLED

WITH MUSHROOMS FROM THE FOREST

SOME WENT IN THE SOUP LAST NIGHT

ITS FLAVOR SAVORY, SO DELICIOUS

.

I PAIRED IT WITH A FINE RED WINE

AND WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SHARE IT

BUT I DINED AT HOME ALONE, ALL BY MYSELF

THEN TOOK A BOOK FROM OFF THE SHELF

.

SETTLING INTO MY COMFY CHAIR

I FELT SOME MOVEMENT IN THE AIR

THE CANDLE NEAR AND GLOWING BRIGHT

THEN BEGAN TO FLICKER

.

I HEARD A SOUND AND LOOKED AROUND

SEEING NOTHING IN PARTICULAR

ON THE TABLE NEXT TO THE BOOK

SAT A BOTTLE OF OLD VINTAGE LIQUOR

.

REACHING FOR THE TEMPTING BOTTLE

AS THE CLOCK STRUCK TEN

AND THAT IS WHEN

I WAS STARTLED, SO UNBELIEVABLY

.

I HADN’T EVEN HAD A DRINK

SINCE MY GLASS OF WINE

BUT WHAT I SAW

DROPPED MY JAW

.

AND THOUGHT, I’VE LOST MY MIND

THE BOOK I TOOK

FROM OFF THE SHELF

FLOATED UP, INTO THE AIR

.

IT HOVERED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME

FLOATING GENTLY, WAITING THERE

THEN I HEARD A WHISPERING OF SORTS

WAS THE WIND TELLING SECRETS?

.

RIGHT INSIDE MY HEAD I HEARD IT

NOT WITH EARS AT ALL, BUT

WITHIN MY BRAIN IT WAS,

MY MIND HAD SURELY GONE AWRY

.

IT WAS SO EERILY UNCANNY

WHEN THE BOOK BEGAN TO OPEN

SPREADING LEAVES LIKE WINGS

IT DID, AND THEN BEGAN TO FLY

.

AND THE SOUND IT MADE LIKE WAVES

UPON THE ANCIENT SHORES OF TIME

ECHOING OFF THE MOUNTAINS DEEP

SO DEEP AND SO SUBLIME

.

SLOWLY FLAPPING ITS PAPER WINGS

AND CIRCLING, CIRCLING ROUND

AGAIN RETURNING IN FRONT OF ME

STILL ABOVE THE GROUND

.

WITH THE OPEN BOOK SPREADING WIDE

ELEMENTAL SYMBOLS ROSE, OFF ITS PAGES BRIGHT

AND ANCIENT SECRET FORMULAS FLOATED

LIKE A SILKY MIST, IN THE CANDLELIGHT

.

GOSSAMER,THEY PASSED THROUGH ME

WITH A SENSE OF TIMELESS WISDOM

AND THE VASTNESS OF INFINITY,

A GIFT OF TRUE DIMENSIONS

.

NEXT, THE BOOK THREW ME ROCKS AND MINERALS

WITH GEODES, GEMS, AND BRILLIANT CRYSTALS,

A SPECTRUM OF VIBRANT COLOR, IN ELECTRIC AIR

APPEARED AND DISAPPEARED BY CHANCE

.

HYPNOTIZED AND ENTRANCED

BY THE BOOK’S SURREAL DANCE

AGAIN ITS PAGES TURNED

AND WHAT APPEARED WAS REALLY WEIRD

.

SUDDENLY, SO TERRIFIED I WAS

AS CREATURES FLEW OUT FROM WITHIN

WITH SLIME AND SCALEY LIZARD SKIN

SHARP FANGS AND RAZOR CLAWS

.

GAVE ME PAUSE, WHEN THEY FLEW BY

AND DISAPPEARED WITH NOT A SCRATCH

OR BLEMISH OR SHED TEAR

AND MY FEAR WAS GONE

.

ANOTHER PAGE OF THE BOOK REVEALED

WONDERS OF THE COSMIC FIELD

CONSTELLATIONS CAME ALIVE AND

FLEW THROUGH THE ROOF INTO THE SKY

.

PLANETS, MOONS, AND SHOOTING STARS

ORBITED AROUND ME, LIKE AN ORRERY, THEN

I SAW A COMET, GOT SO DIZZY HOPING NOT TO VOMIT

AND REMINDING ME, EASY ON THE MUSHROOMS

.

-JHD

.

There are some who have no idea of a true reality, brainwashed into conformity, confining the infinite mind. Thankfully, there are many who have awakened.