[James Midgley]

Hi Matt -- I suppose much of my confusion comes from imagining these components are figurative, that the fungus is standing in for something different, but I can't locate it beyond a general apprehension of Things Decaying. Read in isolation, the fox ideas are odd -- why should N be practising being a fox? If N is human (they have not, after all, become a fox by the end of the poem), why do they have a tail? If they are a different animal, well, why is that being withheld?

While reading I had the sense that these things must be explained in other poems from this grouping -- but it may be that I'm imagining explanations that don't exist. I've seen two poems from you that seem to take the same fox approach, I think, and I suppose I'm imagining a generous glut of them elsewhere that fleshes out these ideas and might answer my questions above (or accrue in a satisfyingly mysterious way). But I have no real way of knowing, of course.

My feeling about 'saga' was that it was chosen because it might justifiably be a 'song' but also involve 'heroes or monsters' -- so, binding the metaphorical language together here. But I don't know if you need it, and saga does feel a bit non-woodlandy. I also notice today that 'woven' and 'tangled' are doing something like the same work (but admittedly not exactly the same work) and you could consider just picking one -- 'woven into pathways' / 'tangled in the pathways' or similar.

Happy to clarify anything else if I can!