All I Have To Offer - Gary Nabham

[Larry Robinson]

all I have to offer
as one of those who have had the honor 
of being called to be among your friends,
this is all i have to offer:

those of us who have been given 
the blessing to deeply delve into the lives of plants
are gifted with the opportunity 
to let them ground us in the earth forever. 

what we learn through them is this:
that even the most gorgeous or delicious
plant in the world must be fitted 
to a context that honors its peculiar stance, 
or else we will be wasting its gift.

what I mean is that a plant never stands in isolation, 
but is a holobiont woven into a fabric 
of mycorrhizal threads, bacterial nodules, 
resplendent pollinators and allegiant seed dispersers 
who have shaped it --and us-- as much as we shape them.

the reason to be engaged in science
is to each day become more humble, more uncertain 
that there is only way of looking at or being in the world, 
to accept our capacity for being wrong, 
and to embrace how truth is iterative and never final.

when we carry that sensibility with us
we slowly come to understand that every tyranny, 
every disparity that has made humans less 
than what we should be
has a solution to be found in the myriad ways 
plants have managed to live under 
harsh and unforgiving circumstances
(like those we are living in now) 
while sustaining their dignity and capacity to delight.

if ever we adopt fresh ways of living in this world 
that will might help us all survive, 
plants can offer us 
options that few human words 
have yet to circumscribe.

	- Gary Nabham
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