Linnaeus: The 26 Sexual Practices of Plants

by Emily Skillings

The Swedish author August Strindberg wrote that, “Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist.” Through Skillings, we meet the poet in Linnaeus. Linnaeus who opens his mouth and a new word flies out, who touches his ear and hears, “you are making sense,” who celebrates in private. Despite an attempt to atomize and categorize, things become other things: his hand becomes a part of his desk, little human turds tumble out of the esophagus of an elevator, leaves become buttons. Sure, he laid the foundations for the modern biological naming scheme of binomial nomenclature but in Skillings’ portrait, he’s also somewhat wayward, prone to irritability, and like the best of us, a little dirty.

Genres: Poetry

26 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2014