(originally based on the poem I AM by Yesenia Moya Garay)
When I read this poem I started to think more deeply about weeds. What/who determines a plant as a weed, which would lead to questioning concepts of invasive and non-invasive, native and non-native. In one sense, a weed is resilient, maintained,restrained: not allowed to exist here. In another sense, it exists here and is now thriving because it was brought here through colonization. I applied this line of thinking to algae and coral formations. Algae can be seen as a nuisance, something to maintain, or seen as a form of resilience. This piece is about working with what you have and growing when circumstances aren’t correct.