Instagram story viewer> @xavierbotanic> Posts

Xavier Botanic

@xavierbotanic

553

followers

892

following

I educate others on the importance of soil regeneration.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Act I: The Water Changed 🌊
Start here. PART 1 OF 6

THE WATER KNOWS. THE STONE REMEMBERS.

1. BOO!
2. Hush
3. Ripples
4. Tepid.
5. Forecast
6. Backstrokes
7. Lifeboat
8. Eventually
9. Gate
10. Discord

This series is a creative account of my personal experiences and perspective. Where I discuss workplace events or the conduct of others, I am describing events as I experienced, witnessed, documented, or understood them.

[Reupload, fixed captions]

#gardentok
#regenerativeagriculture #universityofarizona #poetry
#capricorn by @xavierbotanic

3

4

12 days ago

Speaking up at work can put a student’s entire life in crisis when their school is also their employer.

After nearly a year of reporting what was happening to me and what I witnessed happening to coworkers at the University of Arizona, I was fired. I’m asking for an independent investigation, protection for people who come forward, and accountability.

Someone from @changedotorg reached out, and the petition is now live. Signing is free. If you can’t donate, a signature and a share still help.

Find it in the Linktree in my bio, or visit change.org/holdUAaccountable.

#HoldUAAccountable #UniversityOfArizona #StudentWorkers #WorkersRights #StudentRights taken in University of Arizona by @xavierbotanic

234

4

18 days ago

After nearly a year of what I experienced as being consistently targeted and mobbed by many of my coworkers, reporting it repeatedly, watching similar patterns affect others, and speaking up in hopes of creating meaningful change, I was ultimately terminated from my job in the Technology Department on the first floor of the University of Arizona Campus Store.

My former manager, Mike Wang, Manager of Technology Services and Procurement, sent me the termination email and copied Alli J. Howard, Assistant Director, General Merchandise.

I had been seeking help from the beginning. I reported what I was experiencing, tried to address the problems directly, and continued speaking up when I saw similar treatment affecting not only me, but other people around me. At the beginning of September, I lost my job.

I am now asking for support so I can continue to afford rent, classes, basic living expenses, and legal costs while I work through what has happened and continue pursuing accountability.

More importantly, I am asking for support so that I can overcome these challenges without giving up the person I have worked so hard to become.

I want to continue existing authentically and freely. I want my life to demonstrate that conformity is not the only option, no matter how strongly the world, workplaces, institutions, or social hierarchies may try to convince us that we need to become smaller, quieter, or less ourselves in order to survive.

My larger goal has always been much bigger than one job.

I want to finish my degree and eventually build a large regenerative agricultural farm and community with low-income and free housing, where I can teach regenerative agriculture and help make that knowledge accessible to others.

I want to help restore large areas of degraded land and transform them into edible food forests that can provide food for people who need it. I want to help rebuild soil, increase biodiversity, conserve water, store carbon, cool landscapes, and create healthier and more resilient communities.

Most of all, I want to spread that knowledge so that other people can carry it forward too.

If I have ever helped you buy or understand technology, br taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

78

4

a month ago

POEM 7/56 • LIFEBOAT 🛟

ACT I: THE WATER CHANGED

THE WATER KNOWS. THE STONE REMEMBERS. 🌊
-
The sea-goat.
Approached.
You.
Because It.
Was the one.
Who.
Al-read-y. Knew.
It was giving you light.
It was giving you room.
It was giving you a wooden
door
wide enough for two,
With enough space to
leave behind every untruth
that would have dragged
you down in the end,
along with the final storm.
A chance to stay upright.
A chance to stay afloat.
A chance to stand inside
your own truth.
A chance to build a boat.
A chance to not be one,
With oceans that target
and sink sea-goats.
-
The questions in Backstrokes were the invitation. Lifeboat is what the invitation actually offered.
Room.
A way out.

A chance to tell the truth before maintaining something untrue became more important than correcting it.

Accountability doesn’t always begin with punishment.

Sometimes it begins with a door being held open.

What somebody does with that door is theirs.

🌊 Follow for Poem 8/56: Eventually

🎬 The complete 49-minute film with all five acts + Epilogue is already on my YT. Link in BI-0.

✍️ Petition + GFM are also available through my L!nktree.
-
If this one resonates, share it with someone who believes people should be given the opportunity to choose truth before the storm arrives.

#SpokenWordPoetry #Accountability #TruthMatters #PoetryTok #TheWaterKnows taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

1

1

2 hours ago

📂 I document EVERYTHING. And I'm going to show you why.

That opening audio is from a March 23, 2026 meeting with Mike Wang, a manager at The University of Arizona Campus Store.

Over the last year, I've documented my experiences, what I've witnessed happening to coworkers, and the patterns that developed when concerns were raised.

Now, I'm starting a series to share concrete examples of how I document things, and why it's so important when dealing with toxic workplaces, abusive relationships, and unequal power dynamics.

Because when someone else gets to control the narrative, documentation can help you establish what actually happened.

This is Part 1. 🌱

#DocumentEverything #WorkplaceRetaliation #UniversityOfArizona #ToxicWorkplace #StudentWorkers taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

2

1

7 hours ago

POEM 6/56 • BACKSTROKES

ACT I: THE WATER CHANGED

THE WATER KNOWS. THE STONE REMEMBERS. 🌊
-
And when with each of you
It spoke,
Is when each of you,
It asked.
What is going on?
It asked.
Has my very approach
ever made you
uncomfortable?
It asked.
Did I do something to
cause harm?
It asked.
Did something I did cause
something happen?
It asked.
Why are you all treating
me this way?
It asked.
Is there anything I can do
or change?
It asked.
To make this environment
not such a danger
to my mental and physical
health?
It asked. It asked. It asked.
This last
It asked
repeatedly.
Not only to you,
but also itself.
When It approached and
asked directly
“please speak of what you
know,”
It was neither confused nor
lacking knowledge
of the vicious undertow.
-
Sometimes a question isn’t an admission that you don’t know.

Sometimes you ask because you’re giving another person the opportunity to answer for themselves.
To explain.
To correct something.
To tell you something you haven’t heard yet.
Or simply to choose whether they’re going to tell the truth when the door is open.
That is what Backstrokes means in my story.

🌊 Follow for Poem 7/56: Lifeboat

🎬 The complete 49-minute film with all six parts is already on my YT
Link in BI-0.

✍️ Petition + GoFundMe are also linked there.

Have you ever asked someone a question when you already knew part of the answer, because you wanted to see what they would say?

#SpokenWordPoetry #Accountability #WorkplaceCulture #PoetryTok #TheWaterKnows taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

1

1

12 hours ago

POEM 5/56 • FORECAST

ACT I: THE WATER CHANGED

THE WATER KNOWS. THE STONE REMEMBERS. 🌊
-
The sea-goat already
knew.
Sea-goat already knew
from early on,
what was happening,
and what was wrong.
Before some apologized,
Before others told it lies…
re-affirming what the
sea-goat already knew.
Before conversations,
bit-by-bit,
found their ways
back to it,
re-affirming what the
sea-goat already knew.
Before some sent
screenshots,
Thought new and unseen.
Evidence of that which it
was already keen.
re-affirming what the
sea-goat already knew.
Before murky depths could
be distorted enough.
Before oceans tried
stopping sea-goats from
measuring how rough.
The sea-goat already
knew.
It already knew every
name.
It already knew every
conversation.
It already knew each
individual hand, each
piece, and their motions.
Because.
The water changed.
It knew something swam
upstream,
Hoping to poison the water
downstream.
-
The evidence that arrived later wasn’t the beginning of knowing. It was confirmation.
That distinction matters throughout this story.

Sometimes you notice the current changing long before somebody hands you a screenshot, admits what happened, or finally tells you what was being said somewhere you couldn’t hear it.
-
Forecast is poem 5 of 56 from The Water Knows. The Stone Remembers.

🌊 Follow for Poem 6/56: Backstrokes

🎬 Want the entire story now? The complete 49-minute film with all six parts is on my YT, linked in BI-0.

✍️ Petition + GoFundMe are also in my BI-0.

If you’ve ever had information arrive later that confirmed something you had already been noticing, share this with someone who understands that feeling.

#SpokenWordPoetry #TrustYourself #Documentation #PoetryTok #thewaterknows taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

3

1

2 days ago

POEM 4/56 • TEPID.

ACT I: THE WATER CHANGED

THE WATER KNOWS. THE STONE REMEMBERS. 🌊
-
Sea-goat believes that’s
the very first thing
The ocean misunderstood.
An assumption the ocean
swam with,
To justify the ocean’s rising
flood.
-
Five lines doing a lot of work.
Because sometimes the problem isn’t just that somebody makes an assumption.
It’s what happens afterward when everything else gets interpreted through it.
-
Once the ocean decides what the sea-goat is, every new wave can be used as proof that the original assumption must have been right.
-
And that is how a bad premise starts building its own flood.
-
Tepid. is poem 4 of 56 from The Water Knows. The Stone Remembers.
-
🌊 Follow for Poem 5/56: Forecast
-
🎬 The complete 49-minute film with all six parts is already on YT through the link in my BI-0.
-
✍️ Petition + GFM are there too.
If you’ve ever watched one assumption become the lens through which everything else was judged, share this one.
-
#SpokenWordPoetry #WorkplaceCulture #Bias #PoetryTok #TheWaterKnows taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

2

1

3 days ago

Since I began sharing my experience, I’ve heard from former employees and people who worked in other parts of the University of Arizona. I’m grateful to everyone who has trusted me with their words.
-
You get to choose whether and how to tell your story. If you want to support a safer way for people to come forward, the petition is free to sign, in my BI-0.
-
#YouAreNotAlone #StudentWorkers #WorkersRights #UniversityOfArizona #holduaaccountable taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

8

1

3 days ago

When someone treats you one way in private and another way in public, it can leave you questioning everything.

This is especially important to talk about in queer relationships, where identity, secrecy, attraction, and fear of judgment can sometimes create complicated dynamics.

Documentation isn't just for workplaces or legal situations. It's also a way to protect your memory, recognize patterns, and understand how someone's behavior is affecting you.

When someone's words and actions don't match, having a record of what actually happened can help you separate facts from assumptions.

You don't have to figure out someone's intentions to recognize how their behavior impacts you.

#QueerRelationships #LGBTQ #Gaslighting #Documentation #RelationshipDynamics taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

2

1

3 days ago

One incident might be dismissed. But what happens when you can show a pattern across weeks, months, or even years?

Here's a bit about how I document people's behavior to recognize patterns, protect my memory, and make it easier to explain what's happening when someone tries to deny it.

The key? Document the GOOD, the BAD, and the NEUTRAL.

You don't always know which details will matter later. That's why starting early, using templates, and organizing everything chronologically can make such a difference.

This isn't about assuming everyone has bad intentions. It's about protecting yourself while still being able to give people the benefit of the doubt.

You shouldn't have to question your own reality just because someone else refuses to acknowledge what happened.

#WorkplaceRetaliation #Gaslighting #Documentation #WorkplaceRights #ToxicWorkplace taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

2

2

3 days ago

When someone keeps making you question your own memory, documentation can become your greatest protection.

In toxic workplaces and relationships, it's easy to lose sight of patterns when you're constantly stressed, overwhelmed, or being told you're the problem.

Documentation helps you take back control.

Record what happened, when, where, who was involved, and who witnessed it. Document the good, the bad, and everything in between.

Over time, those individual moments become a timeline. And patterns that were difficult to recognize in the moment can become much clearer.

Documentation isn't just about proving what happened to others. It's about being able to trust yourself.

More on my documentation system soon. 🌱

#WorkplaceRetaliation #Gaslighting #WorkplaceToxicity #KnowYourRights #Documentation taken in The University of Arizona Campus Store by @xavierbotanic

3

4

3 days ago