the mushroom may
grow next to
other mushrooms
but not on top of them.

Two may decide
to grow along side
one another.
they may lean
so close that
it seems their
base is one,
but still each
stands level but
seperate on the
same ground.

look even closer
and the individual
mushroom is, itself,
a relationship of its own.

each mushroom,
from stem to cap,
is a population of
individual and free
single celled organisms
who bond together
for strength and structure,
to abet the survival of all.

really puts the
human condition
in perspective.