Introduction:
Before I jump into the first poem of The Alt Atlas, I wanted to introduce the work and give a little context. On the 4th of October, 2024, I posted on Instagram my first poem of the Alt Atlas. The project was my daily writing challenge that I put upon myself. Each day, I wrote a science fiction poem; I wrote it out on my beautiful green sketchbook, illustrated the poem, and then posted it. 80 days and 80 poems later, I had filled the entire notebook, and thus completed The Alt Atlas.
I’m new here on Substack, and I want to make the effort of connecting more with the community here. My goal is to share with you The Alt Atlas through here (and other works as well), and give a little bit more in depth look into some of these works.
I hope you enjoy! If you’d like to see the illustrated poems, as well as some voice readings of the poems, make sure to follow me on Instagram/Youtube/Tik Tok as well at @mrpendlum
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The Forest in the Tree
In Miligree there is a tree
Kilometers across,
Inside its trunk you’ll find a wood
With every kind of moss,
With every kind of bug and fern,
With every kind of lichen,
You’ll likely never find again
A forest of this likeness.
Behind the Scenes
This poem was the first in the series. I started out short and simple, with the idea of a massive tree that contained an entire forest ecosystem within it, with other trees, rivers, creatures, plants, etc.
In reality, trees actually serve as ecosystems—there are many living beings (mammals, birds, insects, fungi, lichen) that depend on and even live within trees, many which we don’t see.
Here are some real life trees from our very own world:
Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwoods)
These giants can grow 300+ feet tall, and their upper branches collect centuries of fallen needles and dust that slowly turn into actual soil.
Researchers have found:
ferns
mosses
lichens
salamanders
insects
even other trees growing up there
Basically… a mini forest suspended in the sky.
Scientists sometimes call these canopy soils or arboreal gardens.
Ficus benghalensis (Banyan trees)
Banyans challenge the definition of “one tree.”
Their branches drop aerial roots that become new trunks.
Over decades or centuries, one organism becomes what looks like an entire woodland.
Some banyans cover acres and house:
birds
bats
insects
reptiles
understory plants
human gatherings and villages
They blur the line between tree and forest.
Taxodium mucronatum & other hollow giants
Some ancient cypress and old-growth trees develop massive hollow interiors.
Inside you’ll find:
owls
raccoons
insects
fungi
moss gardens
moisture pools
They function like natural apartment complexes or caves made of wood.
Anyway, hope that was interesting!
View below for additional references and reading sources.
Find more of my poems, videos, music, books, and more, here.
Sources
Nadkarni, Nalini M. 1994. Forest Canopies. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.25.110194.002345
Sillett, Stephen C., and Robert Van Pelt. 2007. Trunk reiteration promotes epiphytes and canopy soil development in redwoods. Ecology.
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/06-0994.1
Save the Redwoods League. The Redwood Canopy: A Research Frontier.
https://www.savetheredwoods.org/blog/redwood-canopy-a-research-frontier/
National Park Service. Coast Redwood Ecology. Redwood National and State Parks.
https://www.nps.gov/redw/learn/nature/redwood-ecology.htm
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Banyan (Ficus benghalensis).
https://www.britannica.com/plant/banyan-tree
Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden. The Great Banyan Tree (botanical and growth description).
https://indiabiodiversity.org/place/botanical-garden-howrah/the-great-banyan
United States Forest Service. Wildlife Use of Tree Cavities and Snags (Habitat Guide).
https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/assets/documents/workingtrees/wildlife/tree_cavities.pdf
United States Fish & Wildlife Service. Cavity-Nesting Birds and Habitat Requirements.
https://www.fws.gov/story/cavity-nesting-birds