mint's miscellaneous mushroom

12/31/23

2024 poetry

2024 (the new year, the year i graduate hs, coming in < 2 hrs)
(is the new year a terrifying prospect? a blank slate?
i don't know. i don't feel anything.
sometimes, i feel like i don't care enough.)
2000 + 20 + 4 (addition is calm. simple. basic. elementary.)
2 * 1000 + 2 * 10 + 4 * 1 (i remember those
ones and tens and hundreds blocks in
elementary school.
nostalgia, always.)
2024 / 2 = 1012
1012 / 2 = 506
506 / 2 = 253
253 / 11 = 23
and we are left with 23 once again.
it is still 2023.
for a few more minutes.
(i cannot stop the passing of time.)

1/2/24

yolo (you only live once)
written in teatiime's style, using tea's poetry challenges
TW: mention of blood

i'm tired of this life
but fate gives no refunds
and so we are here
you, dear reader, and me
cracks in the mirror
i wonder, what do they reveal?
is there some alternate universe
behind the mirror
where i am a hornswaggler
or where my fate
intertwines with yours?
(there is no point in wondering)
if i were to hornswaggle fate
would fate retaliate
or would i slip away
like blood across the tiles?
(mortality is infinite
and i am decidedly finite)

1/3/24

romance between a pencil, a baboon, and a mango
idea from AilahEvelynMae
three silly love poems

from the baboon to the pencil:

pencil, dear pencil:
your graphite shines like the moon,
your eraser is blushing pink like the flowers
that bloom each spring,
and i could only hope to have
a moment of your attention.

from the pencil to the mango:

perfect red-yellow skin
you shine brighter than the sun
i must have you
by my side
forever
as the stars rise and twilight falls
us, timeless
(i will write you poems
until the end of the universe)

from the mango to the baboon:

I do not fear death.
Being eaten, ceasing to exist--
I can face it if it's you.
I don't pretend to be wise,
or smart, or special in any way.
(I am just a fruit, after all.)
But I thought we had a connection.
And so, I'd rather be eaten by you
than live alone.

1/5/24

Eaten
idea also from ellie (how about a story about a meal that tastes really bad, a person is trying to eat it to be polite withut gagging. but... it is from the gross foods POV)

I can see up your nostrils. You wrinkle them in disgust. Is it really that awful to look at me, smell me, perceive me? It's almost enough to hurt my feelings.

You know, I would leave if I could. No self-respecting food would want to be eaten by someone who clearly is forcing themself to eat. But I don't understand it. My chef worked so hard to make me. He sprinkled in just the right amount of salt, let the dough rise for a few hours, used a cast iron pan, hummed as he spread the creamy sauce... I look absolutely appetizing! ...To everyone but you, it appears.

You lift your fork and knife and cut a piece of me. You jab at it, bring it to your lips, and gulp it down while holding your nose with your other hand. Alright, now I'm offended.

What's so bad about mushroom pizza, huh?

~~~

author's note: mushroom pizza is delicious :>

1/7/24

(insert angsty poem title here)

the wealthiest 1% owns 50% of
the stocks on the american market.
// wealth gaps
........// we gasp
................// how to heal cracks?
(what good is superglue.....in a world where "super"
....has been watered down into
fictional superheroes and mediocre advertising?)
//...//
like i'm one to talk.
i'm privileged.
i'm-
// spoiled.

................// a spoonful of oil
................................// slips down the throat like lies
who's to say we (don't) willingly ingest content?
force-feeding ourselves
foie gras
how....long....has....it....been
since we've touched grass?


a rant against romantic cliches

if someone ever writes me love poetry
i will forbid them from using cliches.
my eyes do not sparkle like stars.
they are not chocolate or coffee.
(i'd prefer them being compared to
dog poop or mud or rotting bananas
because at least that is original.)

i do not want flowers.
flowers wilt and wither and die.
you think that's an appropriate
metaphor for a relationship?
(if anything, origami or lego flowers
are better. they last forever.)

don't ever call me babe or baby.
i may be naive or ignorant of certain things,
but i am not a newborn. to be perfectly frank,
i find pet names insulting and demeaning.
i am not your honey or your sugar.
i. am. not. food.
(if i were, perhaps i could stand to be a mushroom:
not for everyone, but great in certain combinations.
mushrooms have strengths and weaknesses, like us.)

love at first sight is solely for romance movies,
and perhaps novels and webcomics.
i believe in interest at first sight, but to truly love someone,
doesn't it take hours/weeks/months/years/decades
to get to know every facet of them?
the light, the dark, the gray?
(maybe i'm afraid i'll never truly love anyone.
i toss around the word for every thing i like but
when it comes to loving people, i feel like i
say it out of obligation.
no, that's not true.
i don't know.)

i hate love triangles. fl, ml, second ml.
why can't they have a three-way relationship?
or why can't the mls get together and the fl
run off to live her best life by herself?
(for that matter, i hate drama. maybe that's why
i don't try to make closer friends.
it's easier to float through the day,
chatting but never becoming emotionally
invested enough to get hurt. have i
ever had an argument with a friend?)

a rant against tropes in general

...this is devolving into late-night rambling mint poetry, so perhaps i'll just go with paragraph style. i despise tropes in general. i'm sick of reading ya novels and novels and movies that follow typical plots. obvious love interest. 9 times out of 10 they end up together. if they don't, it's the writer trying to be original but being too obvious about it. i can predict what comes next by looking at what's needed for character growth. whenever someone says what could go wrong? something goes wrong. when a plot element is introduced, it comes into play in some way. i just want the princess to rescue the dragon from the knight. or the dragon to rescue the knight from the princess. is that too much to ask? is it?
i've gotten into sci-fi because i'm tired of tropes. isaac asimov, arthur c clarke. classic sci-fi. the foundation series, rendezvous with rama, childhood's end. they are more original, with twists, but they have their own issues too. comes with the old dead white men thing, i suppose. i would say i mean no offense, but another thing i've noticed is that that phrase often comes after clearly offensive statements. anyways, i do admire their works, but they are not perfect.
(hm. looks like this has devolved from a poetic rant into just a rant.)
i am a rick riordan fan, but after a while, modern mythology books have gotten repetitive as well. i appreciate the way rick riordan presents books show mythology from different cultures, and each protagonist is different in their own way, but there is still the format of main character finding friends and saving the world, often with wisecracks and humor along the way. (i love humor, maybe because it's unexpected. it has a greater chance of being original. but even humor can get repetitive, like spunky protagonists shouting creative insults at the bbeg.)
ted chiang is one of my favorite authors. modern sci-fi. his short stories make me think differently. they are truly imaginative, inventive, close-to-reality yet different, and contain very few, if any, tropes. they are what if? they are our possible futures and pasts.
there must be more creative authors like him out there. maybe i just haven't found them yet. maybe i need to become one of them.


mint a few minutes later, totally ruining the poetic-ish ending of that rant:

why are so many songs about love >:(
i just want to listen to potatoessss or something humph
or like, the pleasure of eating a crispy apple
or the scent of rain
or reading a good book
or even sadness from feeling like your skills are regressing
or dementia
or magic and fantasy
there are books on so many things. why can't songs have the same variety?

1/9/24

school-inspired poetry:

dressed-up

letters wear hats in stats
statistics and parameters
samples and populations
dance a merry jig in my head

escape velocity

i am gravitationally bound to you.
like a satellite unable to escape
the immense pull of earth -
i can't quite reach the
<< escape velocity >>

efficiency

in an efficient economy,
one cannot be made better off
without making someone else worse off.
resources are scarce,
people are scared,
we are scarred.
the market turns
scarlet.

~~~

rant #2 against romantic cliches

i don't want my heart to be stolen.
(for that matter, i don't want to steal hearts.
gives me snow white huntsman vibes.)
i'll starve the butterflies in my stomach,
still the frantic pounding of my heart.
love is blind, and i've always prized my sight.
i'll shoot cupid with an iron-tipped arrow,
shove that love potion into the grand canyon,
shush the endless pop songs about young love.
(love backwards is evol, which sounds like evil.
sounds about right for something that seems
a lot like a disease. losing control of one's
body, even one's mind? no thank you.)
if i love, it'll be slow. careful. deliberate.
like how an oak tree grows, day by day.

to snow white's prince:

dude. she's literally almost dead.
and your first instinct is to kiss her?

to sleeping beauty's prince:

see above, but replace "almost dead" with "asleep."
Umm consent?
exactlyyyyy
>:(

author's note: excellent "Umm consent?" line from Ari11

Me be like: *sitting in class on school, scrolling down yws, seeing mint's "school-inspired poetry" , reading it and being so content. ^-^ Bell rings, going to another class, quickly searching where I left off and reading further.*

This is so true, like gosh. I'm happy someone else realised it too. XD

to snow white's prince:

dude. she's literally almost dead.
and your first instinct is to kiss her?

Mint!! I'm supposed to concentrate on school, not laugh! 🤣🤣🤣 You're ideas and you are awesome.

XDD Thanks, @AmayaStatham!! Glad it made you laugh, lol.

I love this so much XD you are wick-ed awesome mint!

BAHAHA @AilahEvelynMae was that a candle pun? XD
also thanks for the lovely ideas! <3

love these!?!?!

Thank youuuu, @teatiime! Also thank you for the poetry prompts and awesome collab poetry <3

1/10/24

more academics-inspired poetry!
line from my astronomy textbook: "It’s impossible to put a group of stars into a test tube or to order another comet from a scientific supply company."

experiments

you put stars into test tubes,
order comets online,
measure planets in terms of
the pressure they can take
(then watch detachedly
as they are blown apart).
you make hypotheses,
test them, discard them
like a rocket shedding stages.
everything is put through
your scientific method
(tested by fire, like objects
burning up upon reentry).
if the world goes down in flames,
you will sigh, then you will
turn to your backups: your
sol 2.0 and earth #1052.


hmm seems like i love contradicting my textbook through poetry

"Much of astronomy is also a historical science—meaning that what we observe has already happened in the universe and we can do nothing to change it. In the same way, a geologist cannot alter what has happened to our planet, and a paleontologist cannot bring an ancient animal back to life."

scientists

the astronomer looks into the past
reaches out delicate fingers - grasps
strands of stardust and gasps
at cosmic beauty.
the geologist shifts tectonic plates
(wonders whether they're too late)
watches glaciers melt, measures the rate
of planetary change.
the paleontologist scrapes life
into the fossil & uses a knife
to notch and mark its days of strife
on fresh cave walls.

1/11/24

prompt from the Poem A Week club: architecture - steeples, door-ways, arches, balconies, shingles, windows...

arches

if we were arches,
you'd be a roman arch
and i'd be a pointed arch.
you are old money, grandeur,
classical columns and large domes.
as for me? well, the gothic style
has always suited me better.
hm. you don't even know me,
do you? we are from different
time periods, after all. do you think
we could make eras collide?