As a young child, wandering amidst the wild Canadian woods,
I learned from my Aunt Elena about mushrooms:
The boring ones were safe to eat
If they were monotone,
(Not polka dot
And puffing pastel plumes when plucked)
These alone were safe to eat.
So my sister, cousin, and I filled our metal bait buckets with the best of the worst:
Brightly colored poison.
We relished the hunt,
seeking the most exotically colored and brightly hued
mushrooms and toadstools
we could find,
Cherishing our treasures as dearly as Halloween treats,
Comparing, at afternoon's end, the dazzling array
Glinting with dew on the green, green grass.
My aunt gathered our haul,
Tossing every last vestige of our hunt into the dancing flames of the evening's fire;
Scrubbing our buckets with a bit of malodorous bleach;
And then, each of us, in turn:
Ivory soap and fresh clothes,
Ridding us of the noxious residue.
The night was peaceful, at last,
Until my sister blithely stated
No amount of soap could alter me:
For I, too, was brightly colored poison.
Jan 3
Jan 3, 2026 at 12:09 PM UTC
As a young child, wandering amidst the wild Canadian woods,
I learned from my Aunt Elena about mushrooms:
The boring ones were safe to eat
If they were monotone,
(Not polka dot
And puffing pastel plumes when plucked)
These alone were safe to eat.
So my sister, cousin, and I filled our metal bait buckets with the best of the worst:
Brightly colored poison.
We relished the hunt,
seeking the most exotically colored and brightly hued
mushrooms and toadstools
we could find,
Cherishing our treasures as dearly as Halloween treats,
Comparing, at afternoon's end, the dazzling array
Glinting with dew on the green, green grass.
My aunt gathered our haul,
Tossing every last vestige of our hunt into the dancing flames of the evening's fire;
Scrubbing our buckets with a bit of malodorous bleach;
And then, each of us, in turn:
Ivory soap and fresh clothes,
Ridding us of the noxious residue.
The night was peaceful, at last,
Until my sister blithely stated
No amount of soap could alter me:
For I, too, was brightly colored poison.
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