Fungus- the Great Recycler

It’s Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Ruth at her blog, There is no Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town, HERE. Thank you, Ruth! I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us.

Earlier this month, I came across this creepy image, on Laura Shovan’s blog, as a prompt for poets. The photo came from The Alliance for Chesapeake Bay. I’d never seen anything like it. No, they are not human hands. But they sure do look like human hands, dead ones.

So, I thought, did I really want to write about this gruesome image, the fungus OSCOMYCETOUS? Of course I did! And I will share my poem:

THE STRANGE BEAUTY OF THE OSCOMYCETOUS FUNGUS

Dead man’s fingers—

arthritic, furtive

fungal reproductions 

of human digits, pointing

upward from the decay

on the forest floor.

A reminder in dull gray-yellow

that living things,

even us, are recycled

in diverse fashion

after death.

Though I admire

the cleverness of nature,

if I’m destined

for such an afterlife,

I’d rather be a toadstool.

©Janice Scully 2021

This is just a prompt, I’m not normally so gruesome. Some good things are actually happening even in the midst of this pandemic. Over the last month it’s clear that Covid is no longer being ignored.

Stay warm and safe.

13 thoughts on “Fungus- the Great Recycler”

  1. Ha! I’ll be a toadstool next to you. Those ‘deadman’s fingers’ creep me out! But, it was definitely a fun prompt. I’m glad you are having fun with the prompts. I am too!

  2. Janice, I also liked this prompt. It was so unreal. This Halloween, I was fascinated seeing heads and fingers reaching out from under the ground. You took this reach of “arthritic, furtive/fungal reproductions/of human digits” and created pure poetic fun.

  3. Yes, Janice, creepy indeed! And yet you found the poem there… love the toadstool at the end, and it’s got me thinking about lichen and moss and mushrooms. Thank you! xo

  4. Hi dear Janice! Glad you are creating poetry with Laura Shovan’s industrious poem-a-day peeps! I suspect this is an enlarged image of what the decomposition presents, but still, I see the “ick” factor. We like to find fungus when traipsing through the woods but I don’t think we’ve ever encountered anything that gave us the shivers as this does.

  5. Those were some of the creepiest fungus I’ve seen, but they make a great writing prompt. I like the turn at the end–I’d join you as a toadstool over these.

  9. Wow, that’s some creepy fungus. I imagine it’s happy for the attention and honored that you chose to write about it. Delightful poem with the surprise toadstool ending. 🙂

  11. Janice, what a great take on an oftentimes overlooked subject–thanks for sharing it! Fungus is, in so many ways, fascinating. I’ve not ever seen a fungus like this one, but I’m glad I’m prepared in the event that I do–that might be a bit disconcerting to stumble across, to say the least!

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