Wednesday 31 October 2007

Two Poems about Mushrooms

I
Rich sweet earth smell of mushrooms
teases me from the garden
unrecognised feast or fatal temptation?
But wait, this stirs memories
I am old, death is anyway close
I will go where lead, butter fry
and eat with finest wine.

Yes this is exquisite, the same
as I ate years ago in joy
of survival, sensual reality
of food after death had threatened
after a boot had held my head
to the soil, a gun in my mouth
and my only comfort the
rich sweet earth smell of mushrooms.




(previously published in Envoi)


II
We went north for mushrooms –

boletes for frying gently in butter for omelettes,
elusive apricot scented chanterelles promising heavenly flavour,
common false chanterelles stubbornly unscented, unflavoured,
bright fly agaric dramatic for danger.

On the other side of the world
kamikaze pilots
sowed the seeds
for the next mushroom cloud.



previously published in Raindog

9 comments:

Jo said...

Wow.....the first is excellent, so strong, so elemental.....and the repetition at the close works very well. The second makes a powerful statement too.

Crafty Green Poet said...

thanks Jo!

polona said...

both excellent, both powerful; eacg in its unique way.

polona said...

sorry for the typo - 'each' of course

Marja said...

Wow you are crafty and green. amazing poems Loved it. Like mushrooms too.
Thanks for stopping by.

Anonymous said...

Re. your 'mushroom cloud' -this is so pertinent to what I heard on the news today. Apparently, the US pilot who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima died today. He said he had no regrets, that people die in wars and that's just the way it is. Even when he looked down at the devastation he had caused and said it was a 'black, boiling mass' he remained unmoved. I was terrified by his lack of compassion; if it were me I'd never get over what I'd done.

On a lighter note, I love mushroom picking. There are some wonderful spots in the Blue Mountains in Sydney. Nothing can compare to the taste of freshly picked wild mushrooms cooked in butter. YUM!

Mad Kane said...

I enjoyed both, particular the juxtaposition of two different worlds in the second one.

Mad Kane

Crafty Green Poet said...

polona, marja, mad kane - thanks

selma - that lack of compassion is terrifying, but i guess that it isn't an unusual side effect of military training. / I love wild mushrooms cooked in butter too!

Anonymous said...

I love the "butter fry and eat with the finest wine." That's fabulous! My mouth is watering . . .