The Mushroom

We were walking through the woods one day,

My dear friend Sarah and me,

Enjoying the sounds of nature;

The babbling of a brook and rustling of leaves.

.

All of a sudden I saw something ahead,

Something smooth with a rounded top,

I dismissed it without further notice,

Thinking it wasn’t worth having to stop.

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But Sarah didn’t see and stepped on it,

And it burst into a cloud of fumes.

Then she started hacking and crumpled down,

All because of that mushroom.

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I took her to the doctor,

They said she would get well soon,

And yet I couldn’t help but think,

Would that have happened if I noticed that mushroom?

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Once Sarah healed she went to the skate park,

I rushed to the store to get her balloons,

I arrived too late and she’d fallen on her skates,

Would that have happened if I noticed that mushroom?

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Sarah and I went camping once she was better,

We’d found a cheap cabin room,

But in the middle of the night our little campfire had spread;

Would that have happened if I noticed that mushroom?

.

We put the fire out but were banned for life,

We were cast out of the camp into the night’s gloom,

Then from the woods we were chased by a pack of wolves,

Would that have happened if I noticed that mushroom?

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Our wounds healed a little while later,

And I called Sarah to my house for some yoga in the afternoon,

But she twisted her ankle and sprained her wrist,

Would that have happened if I noticed that mushroom?

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We decided to lay low for the next few weeks,

To avoid causing Sarah’s doom,

But a snake managed to find her and bit her on the arm;

Would that have happened if I noticed that mushroom?

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I went to see her at the hospital,

But it turned out that was the last time I ever would,

She passed away from her wounds that night,

Why had I ignored that mushroom?

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This was all my fault; I knew it.

…But maybe it was something else’s too.

That night, I formed a plan in my head.

It was time to eradicate those mushrooms.

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In the morning I strode back to the woods,

Axe in hand and flames in my mind,

These mushrooms would all be gone soon…

…But my rage had turned me blind.

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As I arrived I seethed-

The mushroom had multiplied.

No matter- I’d simply kill them all,

I’d burn them with the fire in my eyes.

.

As I swung my axe downward,

I quickly realized my mistake,

But there was no time to turn back;

It was simply too late.

.

A puff of black smoke wafted over me,

And I realized it wasn’t smoke, but spores,

Maybe none of this would have happened

If that mushroom hadn’t been ignored.

.

…My eyes became quite foggy…

…Over me the black cloud loomed…

…And still… I couldn’t help myself from thinking…

…Would this have happened if I noticed that mushroom?