Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 10-12
Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,
- Like with the nose and toes thing back in the second stanza, the speaker again describes the caps of mushrooms using a human body part: "fists."
- The idea of a raised fist totally makes us think of revolutionaries of some kind—you know, "Fight the power!" and all that.
- Notice that these fists are soft, however. Their revolution isn't violent. This description definitely makes us that these mushrooms are meant to represent women, since they're stereotypically thought of as being softer than men.
- These lady mushrooms aren't lightweights, however. Even though their fists are soft, they're "heaving the needles." Doesn't that make you wince a bit? Using your soft fist to heave a needle has got to hurt. Still, these lady mushrooms soldier quietly on.
- This language manages to conjure the image of mushrooms poking through a leafy, pine needle-covered forest floor, while also making us think of a silent growing revolt that endures pain and suffering.