1 poem

by madelynne gregory

St. Mary School - Lake Leelanau

ode to an oyster mushroom

O tiny umbrella
to shaded
moss
and dirt
spongy
woodland
lily pad
spotted white
fairy chair
plucked
from felled tree
occasionally
inoculated,
we slice
and bathe
and drown you
in butter
and onions
your wrinkled
elephant
flesh
unfolding
bending
to the will
of the
saucepan
heat
each
crackling
sizzling
shrinking
for an eternity
your rubbery skin
suddenly
slimy
now
like a fish
you flounder
in the waters
of boiling soup
bubbling forever up
and
down
consorting with
carrots
leeks
beets
complements
not equals
you
the sole
mollusk
mushroom,
fully fish
and
fully fungus
among us.