The Wood-Wide Web

The wood-wide web of mycelial threads,
inside the soil unseen it spreads,
linking, attaching to tiny plant roots
(no attacking to impair, but partnership). It shoots
periscope-toadstools upwards, bursting out,
to decorate the forest floor, spread spore-dust round about.

No world-wide net to gather ‘facts’,
assimilate, send out again, remix;
a web to harvest moisture, assemble and refix
building blocks digested from dying life’s decay,
and beneficial substances not left to leach away.
Entangling web that binds, improving texture
and drainage of this rich and complex mixture
that beds our food, bears beauty, vital earth
whose greenery restocks the air, our daily breath.