Mycorrhizae

Silas Osborne

There is mycorrhizae
Between our fingers
Thin and reaching
All tangled together

We search the same rich soil
Beneath our feet
Your nitrogen mine
My phosphorus yours

Eyes crinkled in the corners
And lips drawn up in a lovely curve
Your smile mine
My laugh yours

It is a kind of mutualism
This network of ours
Extended ends
For synchronous exchange

We eat our fill of sunlight
Warm against our faces
Running the same sugars fast and sweet
Through our veins

There is nothing I will not share
Your joy mine
My fondness yours
And more and more

Grace Andrade

Biography: I was born and raised on the island of Oahu in Hawai’i and decided to go to Oregon State University to pursue a degree in biology with the concentration in ecology. I enjoy anything the outdoors such as backpacking and freediving, which is where a lot of the photos I take come from.

Artist Statement: The tiny may be perceived as large in relativity

Silas Osborne

Biography: Hello! My name is Silas, and I am a fourth-year Natural Resource major! I like writing poetry and fiction, with a focus on natural science themes and concepts that I find interesting. There are a lot of beautiful and fascinating things in the world, and I have a lot of fun translating from science to prose. I hope to keep writing the more I learn, incorporating new and neat things into my work as they catch my attention.

Artist Statement: Mycorrhizae is a relationship between fungi and plant roots, increasing the surface area of those roots to find more water and nutrients. In return, they are fed carbohydrates from the plant, how neat right? I wanted to apply that concept of reciprocity to a human relationship, specifically the feeling of sharing in another’s joy purely because you love to see them happy. How wonderful, that we work this way.