I do remember Norman. Short flat Norman. We called him wrong way Norman. He wore his shoes on the wrong feet because he liked being contrary that way. He also liked to color in his coloring book. Norman’s parents were Cypress trees and stood around all day being tall and green just waiting for Norman to water and feed them. He colored them in his coloring book making them not only very green but sometimes red and of course their sturdy trunks were always brown. Norman knew where they were at all times. He also knew that you can only take so many liberties with trees. Funny, only Norman did the watering and feeding. He never colored them watering his rose bush. He thought about doing that, coloring a short Cypress and they could stand around together like any normal family, but Norman had a certain savvy about things and knew the truth about trees especially. He knew that made up pictures will never do the feeding and watering of a small boy. Norman also would never tell of real bone crushing, steel melting, booze drinking accidents, leaving him alone with Cypress for parents. Real people do stupid things, not trees. He never had parents of any other hue than green that anyone can remember. One thing about a tree, they are almost always there, barring a fire or any unforeseen accident, always green and easy to color every day.
Neila has been writing art and music reviews for online and in print magazines. She has poems published or forthcoming
in several journals including Word Riot, Mud Luscious, Snow Monkey journal, 13 Myna Birds, Weird Year, and eveydaypoets.com.
| I had been
writing a few stories about children previously but couldn't seem to
get them to fly. Finally with Norman's Trees I let my brain
go where it had never been before (no that's Star Trek). I
didn't rein in my imagination until I needed the monitoring . I broke
out of the self conscious box. |
