Autumn poetry

Adventure 251 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [17]

/ intrepidjane
Honey Fungus

Honey Fungus

The Mushroom Muse has been rather impatient today ; she’s been weaving word-tendrils in my head all morning, sending soporific spores to my “regular work” brain and tempting me to the the writer’s desk. She’s good : she got her way.

My mushroom-hunting adventure has left me with a residual fascination for fungus (let’s face it, it could have been worse 😛 ). And, in my attempt to learn more about each of the mushrooms I spotted, it surprised me to discover that whilst some of them make for good eating, these very same mushrooms can eat the life out of other living things!

Today I’ve written a haiku poem about the Honey Fungus mushroom, Armillaria Mellea. According to my research, it is edible (after cooking), but it’s also a MERCILESS KILLER of trees. Those delicate wee honey-yellow caps sit on top of a huge weapon of mass destruction that lies just below the surface : clusters of rhizomorphs that look like boot-laces. (In fact, this mushroom is also sometimes called the Bootlace Fungus). The fungus spreads via these rhizomorphs and attacks trees, shrubs and woody climbers. Once it’s taken hold, sheets of white fungus material (mycelium) appear between bark and wood, and quite a bit of suffering ensues (in some cases, the bark even “bleeds”).

The root-like rhizomorphs can advance at the rate of up to 1 metre a year. The Armillaria  organisms are thought to be amongst the largest on Earth – there is one such single organism that is reported to be 3.4 square miles in size.

You can read today’s haiku here, and I read it out loud in today’s video-blog.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 248 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [15]

/ intrepidjane

rowan haikuOne of the biggest shifts I’m experiencing as a result of writing my collection of haiku poetry is in the nature of my attention. At the beginning of this adventure series, I was waiting for something from the outside, something from nature, to grab my attention ~ and then I’d write a haiku about that. But now it’s beginning to change, and I really noticed it today. Today, my attention was geared towards the outside world, like a highly sensitive radar. I’m not waiting to have my attention grabbed : I am actively attending to the natural world.

Today, it felt like my senses couldn’t get enough of what was going on around me. As I drove my son to school, I began noticing the differences in the trees : some are yielding to Autumn far more quickly than others. It’s even possible to notice the very gradual swallowing up of a tree by the new season, day by day.

On the way back from school, I stopped to admire a rowan tree (also known as mountain ash). These trees are in full berry now. As the other trees begin to fade, this tree is coming into its prime.

A little bit of treelore research revealed some fascinating facts about the rowan. The rowan (derived from the the Scottish Gaelic word rudha-an, meaning “the red one”) is considered to be a sacred tree and is associated with the Celtic goddess Brighid (patroness of the the arts, smithing, healing, weaving and spinning).

In Scotland and Ireland, spinning wheels and spindles are traditionally made out of rowan wood. Discovering this made me smile : here I am, writing a collection of poetry about the turn of the season,  and I’m being gifted the experience of a tree which is associated with spinning!

Whilst the rowan can grow anywhere, it is often found  in mountainous areas. For this reason is sometimes called “The Lady Of The Mountain.”

Bearing all this in mind, and acknowledging my direct experience with the local tree this morning, I’ve written a haiku that attempts to capture the full essence of this majestic tree.

You can read today’s haiku here , and I read it out loud in today’s video-blog.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT