Salt Lake City

with gratitude to Arturo Fernandez, Michael F. Gill, April Penn, and Ronald Prudent

What kind of relationship could you have
with a hippopotamus?
With a hippopotamus younger than you?
With a younger, Mormon hippopotamus?

Utah is full of Mormons.
Utah is full of hipsters and giant effing trout.
Hippos live in rivers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mushrooms live in forests
and have difficulty distinguishing
between singular and plural.
Their mycelium thread furtively
through the vast forest floor.
If two fungal fruiting bodies have a relationship,
are they in love with themselves?

What is your relationship with mushrooms?
They are an introverted food. An extroverted food?
They do not like being classified as food.
They do not like being classified.

If a young Mormon hippopotamus
ate a mushroom at a bistro in Salt Lake City,
would they get along?