Mushroom Bloom
Killing wind snaps off a 60-foot
red oak. Clues from missing bark
& diminishing foliage.
Three-feet from the ground it splinters
& leaves still-rooted stump
that exposes a trunkhole
now swarming with ants.
Thirty days to chop
& stack. Then time
to construct a mushroom
garden for shiittake – umbrella
saucers, tan gills & wide-open
veils. Crisscross logs
& make holes with handheld drill.
Fill holes with compressed
spore that resemble wooden dowels.
It takes a year for a mushroom
garden to grow through raindrench
& blizzard. When the logs
look like a broken-down cabin
mushroom are ready to sing.
12 thoughts on "Mushroom Bloom"
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Fantastic, Linda! Your interview skills are solid gold, and you’re even better as a poet. This poem sings.
Wow you wrangled this deadfall into something truly beautiful.
“splinters/
& leaves”
Is ovation worthy right at the top.
Linda what did with this
has this mushroom already singing.
Shiitakes! Queen of mushrooms!
“When the logs
look like a broken-down cabin
mushroom are ready to sing.” – yes!
And some would call you
creative…
Tracking nature, its slow progress, its amazing reveal–all in one poetic package!
I like the way Coleman’s love of nature is influencing your poems!
I’m also finishing an 8-week correspondence course, Writing About Trees. I need the subject matter.
Oh yes, those mushrooms will sing! I’ve been waiting for this one, Linda, and it doesn’t disappoint!
Love the progression of this poem, and its stellar ending.
perfect:
shiittake – umbrella
saucers, tan gills & wide-open
veils.
and its solid landing:
mushroom are ready to sing.
The last line sings along with your mushrooms! I also love the unexpected turn of “now swarming with ants.”
Beautiful poem, and I learned so much about setting up a mushroom farm. Looking forward to more poems with singing mushrooms.