Dance of death

My blog and FB friend Bhavesh Chhatbar clicked this amazing visual of a Bracket Fungs on one of his treks in the Western Ghats (western coast of India).

 Bracket Fungi,  produce shelf- or bracket-shaped fruiting bodies called conks that lie in a close planar grouping of separate or interconnected horizontal rows. Please click on Bhavesh's blog to see some more clicks of this fungus.   

Planar groupings of interconnected horizontal rows,  sometimes in blue and gold, swirling as if doing a garba , in anticipation of Navratri.   But the bracket fungi are seriously sinister. They sometimes contribute to the death of a tree and feed of the dead wood for years .

Some still
dance and twirl around,
swirling their blue ghagras
as they dance
and sing
and celebrate the goddess
nine nights
of the garba.

An enraged goddess
of the mountains,
letting flow her copious tears
in thunderous waves,
angered by
the cheating,
the powermad,
and the shameless crooks,
and she roars
amidst the stones
silencing the trees
in one fell swoop.

They lie,
helpless
in their last moments
watching
the swirling moves
of the bracket fungus
as it slowly eats into them
doing the dance of death.