Dandelion Visions & Wind-Borne Seeds

 (adapted from an Icarus Project manual)

Bare ground does not stay bare. 

Tenacious plants called pioneer species

find ways to spread and extend roots

deep into the earth, providing homes for

all kinds of other creatures, and enriching

the soil with their cycles of life and death.

We are taught to see many of

the most common pioneer

species as “weeds;” plants

like the dandelion,

whose strong taproot

extends far below

depleted topsoil to

reach the minerals

hidden in deep,

underground layers

of subsoil. The dandelion

pulls these minerals up and

incorporates them into its leaves

and flowers. When it dies and

decomposes, all the nutrients

that were locked underground are

released, joining the upper layers of

soil and making nourishment available

to the next generations of plants.

. . .  reaching into the fertile

underground darkness

of madness,

and breaking through with

new inspiration and

movement . . .

pioneer plants

create swarms of

tiny lightweight

seeds, with fine

hairs that act like

parachutes to prevent

them from succumbing

too quickly to gravity,

and to keep them afloat

as they travel great

distances in the wind.

. . . seeds release messages from

hidden worlds that travel, reach and nourish

patches of damaged soil. . . visions catch the

wind, land, root, grow, in a myriad

community of seeds, plants, individual shoots, stalks,

blossoms . . . stages of growth . . . entwined,

scattered, coming together ~

    

  ~ May We Nourish Growth & Celebrate Life ~