Shiro the hero

by roving reporter Sh0n Grub 

Hyphae perform a variety of functions in fungi. They contain the cytoplasm or cell sap, including the nuclei containing genetic material. Hyphae absorb nutrients from the environment and transport them to other parts of the thallus (fungus body).

Haustoria: In botany, this may refer to a cotyledon, or to the root of a parasitic plant (such as the broomrape family or mistletoe) that penetrates the host's tissue and draws nutrients from it. In mycology, it refers to the appendage or portion of a parasitic fungus (the hyphal tip), which performs a similar function.   In the singular it is Haustorium: a structure that grows into or around another structure to absorb water or nutrients.

In plant life it's referred to as the Cotyledon: A cotyledon (/ˌkɒtɪˈliːdən/; "seed leaf" from Latin cotyledon,[1] from Greek: κοτυληδών kotylēdōn, gen.: κοτυληδόνος kotylēdonos, from κοτύλη kotýlē "cup, bowl") is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant, and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "The primary leaf in the embryo of the higher plants (Phanerogams); the seed-leaf. 

Phanerogams (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogams (taxon Phaenogamae), comprise those plants that produce seeds.  They are more commonly known as Spermatophyte. 

They are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants--the most familiar group of green plants that form vegetation on earth.

Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus or fungus-like bacterial colony, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the fairy ring fungi. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates.

A sclerotium is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves.  The plural is sclerotia. It is the armor to help preserve the food in environmental extremes. 

Mycelium is vital in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for their role in the decomposition of plant material.  Bioremediation and mycofiltration are two examples of utilizing fungus to detoxify the environment. 

Rusted gates and Polished skies

by  Sh0n Grub 

 I feel as if a fever dream has woken me up inside. 

I know that things aren’t what they seem so why 

does it hurt my pride when people ask me what I 

think about how things are today I don’t know 

how to respond or even know what to say.

All the thoughts I used to have are going down 

the drain. It seems like there has been someone 

who’s hacked into my brain. I don’t know what’s

 real anymore because I’ve been online for so damn 

long the truth’s now hard to find.

What used to seem to be so right now I’m told 

is wrong by people that won’t agree with me or 

sing my own song. I have no choice, but to be left

 alone with my own private thoughts

I try to stay perpendicular to the truth that every

one else has bought.  I close my eyes and think of 

times that have long past us by. Their vivid impressions 

coalesce before me in the sky.  One consolation that I get 

when I open my bedroom window are the songbirds singing 

to themselves, I try to let their message flow through my mind 

as I unwind and think of days gone past.  I hang onto these 

memories, hoping they will last.  I don’t know how much time 

I have left in this old life. All I know is I love my boy and my 

one and only wife. For them I would do anything no matter 

what the cost. In their hearts I hope to find myself getting lost. 

Far ago and Lost now Left behind Like roadkill

by Sh0n Grub

 I’ve never felt so lonely in a world this overcrowded it seems that my one and only hope won’t be heard even if I shouted it from the rooftops for the world to hear, but the wind just carries it away. My opinions do not matter in the world of today. 

 This leads me to feel a sorrow that I cannot quite explain and wonder if I’m suffering from damage to my brain visions I once held that were so pure and true are beginning to be dispelled by everyone, including you. 

 I now feel so lost and alone I can’t begin to express it in the darkness of my mind where a light  once was shown to lead the way forward, there’s only a dimming beam nowadays, preventing me from moving toward the goals that I once wanted to achieve. 

 I no longer see the reason and I’m finding it much harder to believe there’s anything worthwhile but treason.  The price of eggs and gasoline are subjects of discussion and I could care less about their dream of becoming Russian.  

 Friends that used to love me now seem to view me with suspicion, if not mockery and hatred pouring with derision. I suppose one idle glance sent their way colored by the wrong lighting sent them scurrying away from the wrongs I thought we were all righting.  Now I’m just left gutted on the side of a dirt road to be crushed beneath the passing tires and flattened like a toad.