At dVerse Grace is hosting Poetry Form with an invitation to write a Nove Otto – a nine line poem with eight syllables per line and with a rhyme scheme of aacbbcddc. dVerse Poets – Poetry Form – Nove Otto Photo by Tycho Atsma on Unsplash “The mean ones wear their masks with pride, but deep down, the pain resides.” Maya Angelou Friendship's EndI looked for your sagacityfound only your…
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At dVerse Laura is hosting Meeting The Bar with an invitation to write an Open or Free Verse poem. For more detail follow the link below: dVerse poets – MTB – Open to the Question Photo by Fernanda Pereira: https://www.pexels.com “Kiss by kiss I cover your tiny infinity” Pablo Neruda To The LastSheuncertain of her desireopened the door tothe feast withinopened the bottletwo glasseslong…
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Image by Leandro De Carvalho from Pixabay “And in these Shades the false Imposter met” Anne Kingsmill Finch Vagrant PersonaAs we sat talking heopened up to me ofa life arrested,with a deep sadness I listened long,it was likeentering a mansion ofgreat opulence butwhere the ownerchose to exist in thedusty garden shed,he seemed unwilling to move into his own skin. Copyright 2024 ©️Paul Vincent…
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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.
Photo: aljazeera.com (G20 puppets 2018) “The puppets are in love and so are the puppeteers” David Tait They No Longer ShineThe puppetsdespite their expenseare lacklustre now,their movements stiffby rusted joints seized,suspension wires benttormented, twistedfaces peeling,eyes dimmedears broken,heads bowed with weightthey no longer shinefor restless audienceswho come withdesperate expectationfor…
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At dVerse Frank is hosting the Haibun with an invitation to write a sci-fi haibun – for more detail follow the link below: dVerse Poets – Haibun – Scifi Haibun Image by ImaArtist from Pixabay “Now it’s time to leave the capsule if you dare” David Bowie Absorbing Possibility Borg-like I shape to ascend the pod. I smile at the robots now reduced to menial tasks, this is the new age beyond…
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Photo: healthcentral.com “Life’s most important aspect, to stop and smell the roses.” Brenda Arledge MostlyO, it's gone,now this is going, gone toothere's no repeatingexcept in dreams,some will say nightmares or,pace Freud's dictum, that we repeat what we don't remember, though I wonderit's a question of whether we want to or not, besides it doesn't slip awayin idle momentsnever in sleepnor…
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(via 34 - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon)
Photo: Found on bing.com “Sometimes an idea is just an idea” Sina Queyras What's Your Point?Tightropeof woven wordssways high in a breezebetween intolerable points,behind me distorted images an ever moving past,before me a miragenothing more than arainbow of shifting sands,the musicin my headis no certain guide,just my invitation to forget the distanceand dance. Copyright 2025 ©️Paul Vincent…
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Image by Susann Mielke from Pixabay “How many others are in this place? I don’t know.” Nazim Hikmet Time Traveler Can I ever be that sure whenlife is as tenuous as mothsin heavy rainfall,what is permanencebecause time travelseems to be an everyday event,only yesterday I was deep in conversationand a word,doesn't matter which word,had barely landed in my earwhen I was transported to themoment of…
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Image: found on Bing “One vow a year will see me through, and I’ll begin with number two” Rudyard Kipling. I Resolve Not To ResolveIf I were to somehow, suddenly, be enthusedenough to sing the magnificat it would not bea celebration of the annunciationit would be my prompt to shout a renunciation of all who trade off virtues,not that I'm virtuous, of courseI've never even made a resolution,I…
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