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The Tree Of Earthly Delights - an Etheree by Paul Vincent Cannon

At dVerse Laura is hosting Meeting The Bar with an invitation to write an Etheree poem in the form of a fir tree. For more detail follow the link below: dVerse Poets – MTB – An Etheree Tree Image: vogue.com “Stooped in the still and shadowy air lips unseen – and kissed me there” Walter De La Mare The Tree Of Earthly DelightsOhelloms xmasI see you thereunder mistletoeunder no illusionjust a…

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Will You Take My Hand? - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

At dVerse Grace is hosting Poetry Form with an invitation to write a (English) Madrigal – as follows: Content: Often includes a theme of love Structure of an English madrigal *Usually written in iambic pentameter.*Comprised of three stanzas: a tercet, quatrain, and sestet.*All three of the lines in the opening tercet are refrains. Form: A thirteen-line form in three stanzas:Stanza 1] Tercet…

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Talgomine Rock - a prose poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: taken in spring (September) 2018 at Talgomine Rock Reserve: Everlastings carpet the bush. “The first lily of June opens its red mouth.” Marge Piercy Talgomine RockRains recede to spring orchids in songs of pastel blues and yellows. Wrens fan, flitter, chatter across the sun-bleached granite and are just as suddenly gone. There’s something comforting about the musky soil that fills me, to…

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EL PAÍS English

The dirt on biocrusts: Why scientists are working to save Earth’s living skin

Think twice before stepping on that crunchy top layer of soil. It may be a vital ecosystem — one that you can help protect.

Also called biocrust, cryptobiotic soil is a community of tiny, dirt-dwelling organisms that form a distinct crust on the top of soil in arid landscapes. These crusts are vital across Earth’s dryland ecosystems, helping to hold loose soil together and prevent erosion. They retain water, provide nooks for other microbes to live in and add nitrogen to the soil.

Cryptobiotic soil often looks like a discolored patch of ground. Upon closer inspection, the stain becomes a mosaic of small, dark lumps, dotted with tiny beds of moss and inconspicuous patches of lichen. But it can also look very similar to regular, crusty soil. Although the crunchy earth might be tempting to trek over, like stomping through a pile of crisp autumn leaves, that’s a major faux pas: Biocrust can take decades to regenerate.

Biocrusts cover around 12 percent of Earth’s land surfaces and inhabit every continent in the world. A major component of these crusts is often photosynthesizing bacteria called cyanobacteria. The cyanobacteria form sticky filaments that act like glue in sandy desert soil, creating a clumpy, crusty surface where fungi and other bacteria take hold.

Depending on what environment a biocrust is in, it can also house itty-bitty mosses, lichens and microscopic algae. For example, in desert areas with more moisture, like Moab, Utah, biocrusts tend to feature mosses. In gypsum-rich soils, such as near Lake Mead, Nevada, lichens take center stage. Some crusts feature all components, and in other crusts, multiple components are missing. But regardless of their community lineup, the crusts all serve as a living skin for desert land.

“They provide this suit of armor to the soil,” says Ferran Garcia-Pichel, a microbiologist at Arizona State University in Tempe. When he first started working with biocrusts around two decades ago, very little was known about them. In the 2023 Annual Review of Microbiology, Garcia-Pichel outlines what researchers have learned about cryptobiotic soil over the last couple decades and what remains unknown.

Plum Bay Go - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Image by günter from Pixabay “Like a jar you housed infinite tenderness.” Pablo Neruda Plum Bay GoIf I couldI would tradeall my diamondsthat I don't haveand fly to the bay of plums,you smiledknowing that Iprefer the yellow onesyou the red,red or yellowthey are smooth,lush, yet firm to touchlike the flesh of youthful thighs. Copyright 2025 ©️Paul Vincent CannonAll Rights Reserved ®️

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(via A Train Of Thought - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon)

Resonance - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

At dVerse Punam is hosting Open Link Night – the night we choose a poem to post. dVerse Poets – OLN Photo: A Tibetan singing bowl istockphoto.com “Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things” Naomi Shihab Nye ResonanceI have wondered what might, could, happenin the near distance of this journey,what mark would I make - could it last, outlast a lifefor the good,some cobbled…

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(via Even The Ghosts Have Gone - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon)

To Touch A Tree - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: An old red gum features in this photo taken in the Beelu National Park. “To-day I have grown taller from walking with the trees.” Karle Wilson Baker To Touch A Tree Imagineif trees could talk,they'd tell a tale of twoof the passage of time,they'd muse on Platoawe over Alexanderwhisper about the Christ,there'd be groans about warscelebrations of multitudes ofexperiences of kindness,most…

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Entropic - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Image: neurosciencenews.com “In each item’s rightful place, lies the secret to peaceful days.” Michael Anderson Entropic The house gods were rumbling,a certain volume of discord some resonance, vibratoentropy - everything expected isbehind the unexpected,the erased layershave reappeared Kondo would faint,but even she wouldn't sandwich the tailsor permit the elvesto pile sand in the bedor smear…

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