The mushroom is the elf of plantsAt evening it is not;At morning in a truffled hutIt stops upon a spotAs if it tarried always;And yet its whole careerIs shorter than a snake's delay,And fleeter than a tare.'T is vegetation's juggler,The germ of alibi;Doth like a bubble antedate,And like a bubble hie.I feel as if the grass were pleasedTo have it intermit;The surreptitious scionOf summer's circumspect.Had nature any outcast face,Could she a son contemn,Had nature an Iscariot,That mushroom,—it is him.
Photo from The Mushroom Gaze, via feasting never stops.