The chrysalis pulsates in sinuous respiration. A caterpillar threads itself in silk, being decomposed by gastric acids that previously decomposed leafs, the larva is being liquidated from within. Stem cells wrapped in silk with the ability sculpt any shape. Pressure is ripping the silk, a transformed creature emerges, newly found wings unfold - drying before elevating into the skies. Air infused with pleasant scent, an invitation send through the blossoms, not a random occurrence of generosity, but olfactory missives drawing attention to themselves, as we are smelling plant communication.
Crunching dentures of a pest wandering in systemic patterns through plant tissue, the many legs of a centipede gently teetering the branch, while an approaching swarm of insects is humming and buzzing. The attack being sensed by the plant, repelling chemicals are being produced to protect their organism, while sending pulses through the roots to warn surrounding plants. A leaf is like a tongue, able to distinguish saliva of different species. Their leaves are tasting bitter now, a scent is released to call upon the predators of their predators.
Pulsating below our feet a complex subterranean network, of sensing and perceiving entities, is found. Roots, bacteria and funghi, with an estimated age of 500 million years, are woven through the soil, carrying memories of centuries as well as cosmic intelligence.
A plant of weakened vitality, decreased life force, is nurtured by their surrounding peers pouring plant nutrients back into their system. Therefore photosynthesis can still be measured in stumps decades after it had been cut. The scent of freshly cut grass derives from the expulsion of something comparable to a stress hormone, followed by a frequency so high, that is inaudible for us. Translated into a lower frequency it might sound like a scream. Plant signals travel at the speed of an inch per minute. Gaining an awareness of how life expresses itself on earth, when the human removes itself from interfering, we see how cultivated vegetation and monoculture becomes quiet. Selective breeding deprived plants from communal living, as they lost their ability to communicate above or below ground, isolated by their silence they are an easy prey for insects and pest. Watering plants removes their inherent weather forecast, as their roots no longer need to grow deep, because budgeting is no longer an issue. Superficial roots are unrooted quickly by storms.
While regarding communication within the natural world, I am regarding how it communicates with us and the relationships we have built. Where venom and poison could elevate humanity to different levels of consciousness. Where medicinal properties were commonly known and used. A certain dose could „lift the dead and kill the living“. Toxicity and cure share a scale separated by a gradient.
Knowing that our surrounding is not merely a stage that decorates the existences of our species. I desire to shrink the recipient into a simulation of the microcosm, in which their ratio would become comparable to a species that inhabits the ground, in which the pull of the flower is felt. Dipping these plants in narration and poetry facilitates an understanding of their inherent knowing and sensing, in which our cohabitors are helping us to understand the complex web of life in which we are all interwoven.