[The following fungal growth has been kindly shared with us by Happy Cow's good friend Simon Drew. When he is not busy taking time out, Simon can be found having a quiet night in with space, meeting up with gravity, calling antimatter on the phone and running the online groups English Stuff and H.A.T.S.T.A.N.D.(O.N.). You can also find his astonishing picturology in the Happy Cow Gallery. If you found magic in these mushrooms, why not show your appreciation by clicking on the 'Like' button at the bottom below. Alternatively, you could train a large herd of pygmy hippos to stand in such a way that they spell out the words 'MISTER DREW IS MY HERO', arrange for it to be photographed from a reconnaissance satellite, and then project an enormous version of the photograph onto the surface of the moon using a projection technology as yet not invented. Enjoy!]
Up there, the multicoloured stars, piercing through the gloom
below, on the forest floor, watching on, mushrooms
though some of them glowed a little, held a little light
it was those stellar objects that dominated the night
They whispered to each other, sitting in the dark
coming up with a plan to join those celestial sparks
they could stand it no longer, being forgotten and ignored
and in each little mushroom dream, they in the heavens soared
And so they gathered in a clearing, a mushroom meeting came
to this place to discuss their future mushroom fame
they'd build a giant vehicle to take them to the sky
no more munching on the things that fell on them from high
Above their little mushroom heads, they'd get up there somehow
they'd build a hot air balloon, they'd start to do it now
instead of munching on the mulch, they'd turn to its construction
it seemed a far loftier pursuit than dead tree deconstruction
And night by night the balloon was made from discarded plastic waste
one enterprising fungal friend returned with some glue paste
others gathered soft drink cans, some located string
and to the clearing every night, they'd these materials bring
But all the while organic waste, the falling leaves and bark
were growing higher and higher, the build up was quite stark
little saplings were swallowed, but they did not notice
on the task at hand, they were completely focussed
Till finally one full moon night, the project then was finished
though lacking regular food intake the mushrooms were diminished
with many a squeaky mushroom shout they jumped into the basket
filled with so much excitement: none of them tried to mask it
They floated into the heavens, hot air from cigarette lighter burning
drifted up from the forest floor they so long had been spurning
until they reached the burning stars they so long had admired
and looked about with wonderment, though so very tired
They could hardly hear the whispering of those points of light
there were so many here, they were packed in oh so tight
but at last a few, closer in, began to be heard
by our little fungi friends, soaring like a bird
"What's going on down there?" they were saying to each other
"The trees are all hidden now, the streams are full of clutter
and look now, the mushroom glow we loved to watch so much
is gone, they all have left, it really is such
A strange thing to look down, and not watch them feeding
on all the little bits of trees the trees are no longer needing."
And though the mushrooms found flying an adventure
it wasn't long till mushroom minds had thoughts they couldn't censor:
That watching stars up so close wasn't that much fun
certainly not what they'd dreamt of when they had begun
and so they slowly drifted back to their home in the dark moist earth
amongst the bracken, fallen leaves, Coca Cola cans and turf
The forest sang a song to them upon their return
but to understand it you'd really have to learn
the language called Arborish, it takes a month to say
the simplest of greetings, yes a month to say "G'day!"
But to convey the major gist of it, they welcomed those mushrooms back
And rejoiced as they restored something that in their absence had been lacked
the vital part of sacred chain had now been restored
by the eating up of forest waste, it was no longer ignored
And still the mushrooms on quiet nights would look up to the sky
look upon those shining gems, those twinkling night eyes
but also they looked around, at wonders much more near
the miracles that surrounded them were now so very clear.
The Happy Cow website and all articles on it are created entirely voluntarily and free of charge. However, if you feel that anything on the site has been of value to you, you may wish to make a voluntary contribution to the upkeep of the site. Click on the 'Donate' button below.
If you have an inspiring tale or some interesting philosophy to share with us, please feel free to e-mail your ideas to
contributions@happycow.org.uk.
