Throwback Thursday: Beware the Sly Mimics of Spring, by Maria DePaul

Mushrooms emerging

From saturated ground 

Mist bearing shoots 

Scatter faintly 

Among tree roots

Chirping echoes above

As other nests

Are feathered 

Crocus peaks out

Through remaining

Scattered icy traces

Chrysalis spinning 

On softly greening limbs

Cloudy dreams forming 

May soon come true 

Chartreuse froglets

Multiply high and low

Curious young things

Explore bright colors 

Lured by scents 

Returning from deep

Within the Earth

But straying far

Extracts a high price

Beware destroying angels 

Bewitching mimics 

Fool the untrained eye

Sampling newly emerged

Saprophytes which

Seem like treats 

Yield a death cap 

Toxic though tempting 

Such smell and taste 

Transports its victim 

To another realm

Never to return 

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Maria DePaul is a Washington, DC-based writer whose poetry, prose and reviews have been pushed extensively in print and online--including in Haikuniverse, Haiku Journal, Poetry Quarterly and Three Line Poetry.

Image from Pixabay