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A Yearbook for Larry



October, Week 41

MUSHROOMS

Flamboyant fruiting bodies
tip of the mycelium iceberg
no mere molds, these aromatic blisters
amanita, sheephead, inky cap
stumper, shaggy mane, earth star
truffle, birds' nest, golden-cap
chanterelle, puffball, morel
russula, stinkhorn, boletus
spores like smoke, or steam
slimy, spongy, sticky, leathery
fanciful fungi
that appear so quickly
and sporadically
and then melt
or shrivel
October, Week 42

STRANGE ANIMALS

Organic oddities
living secret lives
in hidden places
underground, under rocks, underwater
fascinatingly bizarre
perplexing in taxonomy
obvious in beauty


border, top clockwise: amphioxus (lancelet), caecilian
(an amphibian), bristleworm, hemichordate (acorn worm)
corners, left top clockwise: barnacles, tunicates (sea
squirts), brachiopods, nudibranchs (sea slugs)
center, top clockwise: mantis shrimp, ctenophore,
arrowworm, scaled worm and leech
October, Week 43

MICROSCOPIC LIFE

Bizarre animalcules
with whimsical names
dinoflagellate, radiolarian
bacterium, microbe
amoeba, rotifer
germ, volvox
stentor, euglena
protozoan, ciliate
vorticella, infusorian
foraminiferan, paramecium
everywhere, but unseen
within familiar surroundings
an invisible universe
October, Week 44

HALLOWEEN

A nocturnal holiday
about death, evil and fear
gloomy, mysterious, eerie
pumpkins, bones, magic
ghosts, ghouls, goblins
masquerades, deception, illusion, trickery
spiders, worms, witches, owls
mist, shadows, obscure shufflings
screams, howls, whimperings
bats, cats, rats
gnomes, trolls, ogres, imps
slime, blood, ooze
banshees, werewolves, devils, vampires
demons, zombies, monsters
scary stuff
                                                                                                                                               
November, Week 45

SCORPIO (The Scorpion)

Scorpion mating dance
an ancient arthropod orgy
modern eurypterids
slowly amble and waltz and glide
a chitinous embrace
warily restraining
deadly claws
                                                                                                                                               
November, Week 46

ECHINODERMS

Spiny-skinned benthic beings
pentamerous radial symmetry
elliptical, cylindrical, orbicular
radically rigid geometric arrangements
of spines, tentacles
plates, tube feet, pedicellariae
and serpentine chain-mail appendages
stalked flowers, pin cushions
armored globes, feather dusters
a slow-moving galaxy of
star animals


top, left to right: brittlestar, sea urchin, starfish,
basketstar, starfish
center, left to right: sunstar, crinoid, sea urchin
bottom, left to right: sea cucumber, sand dollar,
sea urchin, sea urchin, featherstar


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