Planten
Mould climbs up the shower wall
each day, spores grow
new arms, new legs.
They flourish slowly,
strangely,
as if caught in stop motion.
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polaroid (1)
such darling flowers –
alliaceae or allium tuberosum
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I touch the shop window.
You press the shutter.
All the plants stop growing
deep within their biology, they remain
a particular hue of green purple
forever gorgeous succulents.
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polaroid (2)
small yellow cabbagey leaves –
poaceae or festuca violacea
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The plants in the apartment are fake
but with a filter they look real
and honey didn’t I arrange them nicely?
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polaroid (3)
healthy & herbacious –
boraginaceae or omphalodes verna
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(Being tropical plants in a non-tropical environment)
they are kept in a vast greenhouse
and watered every few days en masse.
The windows open and close on a timer
letting light and air refine the room in calculated cycles.
A mirror (reflecting sunlight to boost photosynthesis)
is perfect for a selfie.
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polaroid (4)
purplish pods, how sweet! –
perovskia atriplicifolia or lipbloemenfamilie lamiaceae
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We drink milk made of plants
with tea made of plants
try on bags made from plants
take photos of plants
pick up leaflets: how to lead
a more plant based life.
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polaroid (5)
a very hungry caterpillar –
fabaceae or cytisus purpureus ‘Albus’
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In the glass, you are:
plant-man hybrid, a cactus
greens your reflection
the top of its avocado body
resting at your chin. Smile baby!
You’ve never looked so lush.
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polaroid (6)
nothing to see here (come back next spring) –
liliaceae or tulipa turckestanica
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Two girls on bicycles stop at a flower shop,
consider potted ferns – which shape leaf
will work best on their windowsill? Which green
is the greenest shade of green?
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polaroid (7)
like gorse but also not like gorse? –
fabaceae or genista hispanica
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A picture of a camera
with a red cross through it.
No photography.
But these plants, this abundance
of nature on nature
banana leaves pressed against walls,
how can we not make some record?
We must capture this heap of foliage
as if our camera controls the seasons.
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polaroid (7)
petals gazing upwards at curious hands
primulaceae or cyclamen hederifolium
From the notebook:
Accommodation: £60 for three nights in an AirBnB (off season travel meant that the apartment was very cheap).
Travel: £50 return tickets to Brussels on the Eurostar, bought through the company Snap Eurostar which offers cheap tickets.
£30 various trains and buses. The trains running between Ghent, Bruges and Brussels are incredibly fast and great value, around £6 pp.
Food: To save money we bought food in the local supermarket and cooked in most nights. Our last meal out cost around 50 euros (we splashed out on waffles for dessert).
Activities / Places to Visit: In Ghent, we enjoyed wandering around and taking in the city at our own pace. Visit the City Pavilion, an outdoor space where you can play on one of the many outdoor pianos or (if you’re not musically inclined) listen to others as they show off their best Mozart and Chopin. Another highlight is, as you might have guessed, Ghent University Botanical Gardens – see the above poem. Great places to eat: Full Circle Coffee – a plant-based, vegan cafe full of plants and magazines, a lovely place to read and relax. Den Hoek AF – a quirky cafe with tasty home-baked cookies and a sassy business card (what more could you want?!) Basta – when you’re tired from a long journey across countries, this pasta is literally all you want to eat. Our meal here was delicious. Definitely get the train to Bruges too as there’s lots to see; we spent a day there wandering through the cobbled streets and following the canals.
PEN & BULB 