Hello, all subscribers and anyone happening upon my page this Saturday evening. Tonight is Poetry night once again. This is where I throw out some brand new, never before seen poetry out into the world and see if anyone digs them or not. How about I get started?
If You’re Interested in the Poetry You See Here… You Might Want to Check Out Some More…
My first collection of poetry is out.
Since Substack doesn’t have the setup for this (that I’m aware of), I’ve set up something at my WordPress sister site, Liegois Media. I have my own Internet storefront page where you can order my chapbook for $6 per copy. The link is below.
You may have sensed this if you have followed me1, but I am not a fan of the hot weather. When some of my work colleagues in April were praying for sun and warmth, I was thinking of how July 2024 extended into November of the same year and thought to myself oh, don’t worry, you’ll get it soon enough and get it hard.
Some people want to vacation in Cancun or Florida, I would prefer to go to Iceland or the Faroe and Shetland Islands. Some people want to go on cruises to the Caribbean; I would prefer a tour of the Rhine/Main/Danube rivers or a voyage of the Great Loop2.
With all that being said, if I had to go outside, I’d feel a lot more comfortable in a dense, cool, moist forest with plenty of shade rather than a tropical jungle, beach, desert, or other biome3. This, plus a bevy of mushrooms popping up in my yard4, inspired this poem.
Mushroom Hunt in the Forest
Fort Madison, Iowa, 26 July 2025
Crisp breeze
Wet air
Cloudy days
Now is my time.
Sneaking under the pine and oak canopy
On my own
Burlap bag over my shoulder
Mushroom knife in my true right hand
Well-thumbed mushroom guide in
My left.
I wander around the trunks
In the cool shade
On the lookout for
Cauliflower
Chanterelle
Hawks Wing
Honey Mushroom
Lobster
The Prince
And the Truffles.
I put them in my sack
Converse with nature
And get some satisfaction
That I can be resourceful
As my electric-deficient ancestors were.
To be honest, however, the deepest darkest place I tend to hang out in (if I have one) during the depths of the overheated Iowa summers has been a basement. My childhood home in Muscatine had a great basement where I spent most of my waking moments. It was my lair. In the first three homes I owned, they all had basements but were not quite set up for lounging, so I had to come up with alternative locations. My new home here in Fort Madison has a proper basement, with enough space for not only my home office, but a recliner and love seat, breakfast nook table, a utility room/storage area/work bench, more storage, bath and shower, refrigerator, and microwave. I need to be appreciative of the nice stuff I have. 🙂
Man Cave
Fort Madison, Iowa, 25 July 2025
Back when
Homo Sapiens Sapiens
Was just Homo Sapiens
Before they built castles
Long houses
Daub and wattle huts
And lean-tos
They gathered inside the natural caverns
In their irregular water and wind-carved
Empty spaces
To make them their own.
They liked the solid cool spaces
Sheltered from the elements
Secure from danger
With a dollop of safety.
I live in different times.
My caves are not rounded and irregular
But squared and measured.
My caves are not wet and living
But dry and dead.
However,
It is a good home for me
Not in tune with the natural world
A concrete, steel, and wood sanctuary
For a civilized boy like me.
That’s it for tonight. Hope you all don’t sweat to death the next couple (or few) of months56.
While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.
- And how. ↩︎
- Here’s some info in case you didn’t know what I was talking about. ↩︎
- I am not an outdoorsy person, as you will see. ↩︎
- Told you the photos would have some relevance. ↩︎
- Iowa only has maybe two perfect months of weather during the year. I have told my wife I do not wish to live anywhere between North and 40° South latitude. Currently, I live at 40°38’05” North. ↩︎
- Honestly, I would love to retire and live somewhere around 45° North or South, which would suggest somewhere in Minnesota, the Upper Peninsula, or Alaska. Or maybe southern Patagonia in Argentina. I like cold places, all right? In my final days, I don’t want to sweat to death, even in our climate change world. ↩︎