BY ARIEL KUSBY

You and your houseplants have an intimate relationship. When you care for them, they give you fresh air in return. They’re dependent on you, and this connection creates a deep bond. Because plants are protective, they can be seen as green allies that stand in our windows, guarding against illness and providing us with inspiration. Every plant, even your houseplants, have a personality and secret language that we can learn from if we commit to listening to them.

Free Write: Choose a houseplant to sit with for a while. Gently touch its leaves, trace your fingers through the soil. Take a few deep breaths focus and notice any related thoughts, feelings, or images that arise.
Focus on a particular leaf or flower that is most beautiful to you. What does this leaf reveal about the plant’s greater personality? How does the leaf taste, feel, and smell? Is it sharp or sweet and how does it relate to the way it looks and to any impressions you may be getting? What are its secrets and what does it wish you will know? Record any fleeting thoughts or images that come into your mind, however unrelated they may seem.
Life Cycle: Now write about the seed or bulb from which this plant originally came. Start a sentence with “It was,” then another with “It is,” then the next with “It has nothing to do with.” Next, write “It is like ___ when ___.”
Seasons of the Houseplant: Write 4 lines about the plant in each season. Then write 4 lines alternating between two seasons. Then, all four again. To add an extra challenge, try doing so without using any colors.
Secret Life: Write about a secret that this plant may have, from the plant’s perspective. Then, write a few lines about the secret, as told by the plant container’s perspective.
Plant Body: Pick a new part of the plant, like a stem, flower, or a different leaf. Write as if it has replaced one of your body parts - what would be the physical, emotional, psychological, and/or sexual repercussions of this?
Terrarium Editing: Start a new page. Pick your favorite lines out of everything you’ve written and compile them together here. They may all not seem to immediately fit together, but try rearranging them to see if any lines juxtapose in interesting ways. Like a terrarium is often designed to group plants with different textures side-by-side, see if some of your lines can coexist in the same poem.