Walking in the park a couple of days ago we were drawn to the ivy growing all over some of the trees because we needed to gather food for our stick insects.

We pass these trees all the time but that day’s task served as an unexpected invitation to look more closely.

As we were looking it was my seven year old who observed that, even in this small space, this one plant took multiple forms. And that each of these forms were fulfilling multiple purposes. Together, out in the woods, we then decided to create a list of all the different things that we thought that the ivy was doing.

This experience is what has inspired today’s prompt. In your space choose one plant and spend time observing it in detail. How many different shapes / patterns can you see? And what is their purpose. The create a list of all the things that you think the plant is doing on the basis of the shapes that you have seen. No elaborate descriptions are required – just a simple gathering of verbs.

Ivy

Grasping. Smothering. Enshrouding. Glimmering. Hanging. Stretching.

Flourishing. Thriving.

Reaching. Climbing. Ascending.

Dominating.

Co-habiting.

Strangling. Choking. Stifling.

Suffocating.

Netting.

Entrapping.

Embracing.

Concealing. Overpowering. Reaching. Disregarding.

Creeping.

Spiralling.

Gripping. Advancing. Snaking.

Hypnotising.

Colonising.

This post was originally shared on Substack on 11th February 2023