How to think like a plant

Two poems from a plant and one note from a human

A poem (from a plant):

Hello humans.

I am a plant.

This is an invitation to think like a forest.

Or a tree.

Or a leaf.

Or a bud.

Or a bloom.

Or a branch.

Or a stem.

Next, an invitation to think like a bird.

And an invitation to think like a planet.

Would you try thinking like a plant or a bud or a root or a seed or a tree or a leaf or a bird? Would you try to do that now? Would you try it every day? Would you try to think like a planet, too? This planet.

Paint and collage by Judith Hannah Weiss

A second poem from the same plant:

Plants wonder why humans seem to see themselves as central to everything.

Like the world is a film in which they are the star, producer and director.

Like all things are here to uphold and exalt them.

Like the world didn’t exist until humans arrived.

Like humans are all that matters.

Or at least wealthy humans who can build spaceships to exit Earth

Or burrow in haute couture attire in luxe underground bunkers

That can withstand blasts of 3 billion pounds should Apocalypse arrive.

A note from a human:

Nineteen years ago, on September 18, 2006, I lost the life I had and the mind that powered it. Put another way, I lost a piece of my mind — or rather, a few billion pieces of my former mind. This can cause unlikely occurrences. Like poems from a plant.