What compels me to sit and write…
There are facts, studies, but what is the “push”?
Inspiration. Breath in.
Expiration. Breath out.
Could it be that simple?
Gills, breathing in, breathing out
a mushroom, a flower
bursting upward from the earth, overnight
flower of that forever linked being.
Streaming thoughts
a swimmer
breathing out, breathing in
forces herself toward the surface.
Puhpowee!
Toward dark, toward light
not stumbling, not stopping
breathing air in the earth, air in the sky
All of this, and yet, I am still asking,
what compels, below and above?
What is the “push” unseen?
*Translated from Anishinaabe, as cited by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Braiding SweetGrass, p. 49), puhpowee refers to "the force which causes mushrooms to push up from the earth overnight." Kimmerer’s source for puhpowee was Anishinaabe ethno-botanist Keewaydinoquay, reporting on traditional uses of fungi.
About the Author
Linda LaDuc has been writing poetry for six decades. In her work she weaves together philosophy and science with life experience.