Below, we thrive,
we live
and owe our love
to growth above
to what you see:
their swelling flesh
their pride to rise, to stretch
to saturate with toxin
while finding room
to swell,
to drink from mulch and dew
while we below,
we know how mushrooms grow
their bloom
while fungi mostly are
unseen below the moss
alive among the worms, the roots
expanding, crawling, finding ways
persist, exist, insist
collectively from rot,
in humus — us.
Today Sarah wants us to write about fungi at dVerse. You can write about anything you want in any form you wish. My choice is to write about the large portion of the fungi that is hidden below..
February 9,2021
Björn Rudbergs writings 
write a send to my email(rosalesmaryr83@gmail.com)
Oh fabulous, Bjorn! The life of fungi is so mysterious and so vast – you obviously know what I’m on about. I love the way you have made a proper poem out of this – it flows and sounds beautifully. There’s a hint of humanity there as well – the swelling flesh, the growth through love. Excellent.
I had to look up mycorrhiza – I love the idea of beneficial fungi, doing good in mysterious ways underground, Björn, and the way you’ve expressed this with wordplay and rhyme.
An admirable introduction to fungi, Bjorn. Well researched and well presented.
Excellent! Mycelium can stretch for miles.
Nice inner rhyme.
This just trips off the tongue.
The pretty part above has all of the fun while the laboring part below the surface, does all of the work. Reminds me places with amusement parks that are are bright and shiny with perfect landscaping but a few blocks over are the tenements were the slave labor lives. How nature and human behavior mirror each other here!
Wonderful sub rosa explication, Bjorn. Thanks.
A very well written poem about fungi! The imagery is rich and delicate such as in these lines:
“their pride to rise, to stretch
to saturate with toxin
while finding room
to swell…”
Love it!
Great beauty in your description of what is above ground but last five lines and the comparison to us – humans – were wonderful.
We were in parallel poetic states of mind, brother. Your research bestowed dramatic results, whereas mine found some levity. I really liked your take, both informative and dynamic.
I really enjoyed this Bjorn, some fact and some fancy! I am sharing this fact today: A “Armillaria Ostoyae” mushroom, in the Malheur National Forest, in the Strawberry Mountains of eastern Oregon, was found to be the largest fungal colony in the world, spanning an area of 3.5 square miles (2,200 acres; 9.1 km2).
I enjoyed how you mixed facts with some of human nature. I thought about how fungi grow on trees and it is because the roots have gone bad – rotting.
Oh, this is so cool!
“alive among the worms, the roots
expanding, crawling, finding ways
persist, exist, insist
collectively from rot,
in humus — us.”
“their swelling flesh
their pride to rise, to stretch
to saturate with toxin”
Funtastic and clever.
I think that most don’t know how mushrooms grow..
expanding, crawling, finding ways
persist, exist, insist
collectively from rot,
in humus — us.
Yes, Bjorn perfect description of how they managed to live. They take ‘us’ for a ride. Love the reference!
Hank
It’s in not only the flashy toadstools at the surface but those hidden growths below which support an ecosystem. Nice imagery and poetic effects.
👏 👏 👏
Lovely song about what roots us all –
Fabulous Bjorn!
your lyrical fungi facts that skilfully blends to describe how we humans also survive … especially in this time of blatant bs!
The denoument really wakes you up, and then you recall “Below, we thrive” and the mordant humor comes through. As usual, Bjorn, your writing is par excellence.