The Traveling Plant: Preparatory Logbook

Kat Austen

is, their, endlessness

Berlin, Germany

How I think of you, is not how you think of yourself, perhaps. Where did you begin and where do you end? These are concepts that I feel instinctively that I need, in order to address you – but they are not concepts of use to you, perhaps. Where you blow over winds, and wash over tides and roll over lands, you are you nonetheless, perhaps. When you disperse you are you, perhaps.

Nevertheless, there are things that are other than you; some of these things might cause you some discomfort. Maybe trampling humans bend your precious stalks after your sap has risen, or hungry mice gnawing, fungi that want to become with…  you may develop ways to protect yourself – by hiding in plain sight, by being repulsive, by fighting back. But you will encounter for sure also things that you celebrate: the sunlight, the water, sometimes even worms that enrich the soil. And the bees, the bees. They will be good to you as you are to them. With them and you together, the richness and lushness of life prevail.