I-We

Jeannie Marschall

Listen.
Down by the creek
rustle
the wind-brought, water-swept, parent-dropped, paw-planted;
tall-togetherness, stretching up
low-entanglement, reaching deep
narrating currents, plans, nutrients, news
A mild new green time
Too mild new green time
And so soft the cold stillness before
Yes; water never stopping
Earth-hold never all-hard
Earth-net never silent
We sense a small gnawing already
Holes in ten times ten thousand fluttering mouths;
Many?
Bigger, all through light, all through dark
Rasping, many-rasping
Wise now—
Share—
Warn—
Make bitter, make bitter—
Listen:
Thicken, toughen—
Open pinprick lungs, drink air, breathe sunlight—
Friend below! Give!?—
Yes; here’s water for We, for sugar for We
Create, create—
Thicken, toughen—
There will be many maws
There will be eggs
There will be legs
Many
Yes; burrowing, hiding, waiting=
For next warmth, next gnaw
Many
Danger
Call, call—
Curl a taste on the wind—
Bring the swift-soft, light-scratch, bend-me-little—
The sharp tap—
Call—
Call—
—we sense.
Sense?—Yes—There—Here—We sense
Hello—
Soft-swift
Hello—
Hello—
Over here—
Too many
Bring sharp-tap—
Make less—
We shade, we shelter
Make less—
Stay, or come again, stay, then come again—
We hold, we hide
Make—
Balance—
Thank you; yes
Balance
Balance
Down by the creek
A flutter of feathers
A rustle of leaves
A mild new green time.

The Science

My poem was inspired by the still-advancing science of plant & plant-animal-fungi communication and interaction via e.g. root-mycelium networks or airborne chemicals. I find this subject immensely fascinating because the signal transmission, reception & interpretation are so different from the (conscious) human experience even though the biological principles behind them are fundamentally the same. The way that plants perceive the world is difficult to imagine. I've thus tried to put what happens into words that might be more immediately relatable, hoping to portray life forms that many people perceive to be passive and object-like as actually living, communicating, acting, and reacting creatures.

The Poet

Jeannie Marschall (she/her/any) is a teacher from the green centre of Germany who also writes stories, enjoys long walks, foraging, and tending a semi-sentient vegetable garden while inventing tall tales with her partner. Jeannie mostly writes colourful, queer SFFH stories as well as the occasional poem, and has a few short pieces lined up for publication this year, for example with Procrastinating Writers United. Longer works are in the cauldron. Bluesky: @JeannieMarschall.bsky.social or Mastodon:  @JeannieMarschall@fandom.garden  

Next poem: May I speak? by Miriam Fraser