LIFE MAP - (follow up)

My map of grass and trees was rolling down the paper easy and smooth. It sounded like Chet Baker playing the trumpet and looked florescent green. I was rolling down myself, remembering and living it at the same time.

All my trees have always been tall and strong and beautiful. The first one was dark green and had no end to it. It joined directly the blue sky of my childhood: a long ladder to climb up to the clouds, sit there and have tea with my friends. The sun was beating up the tortoise's shell, hot like iron. There was nowhere for 'Pierina' to escape, except a hole in the ground or one in between the brick walls.

Pierina liked lettuce and tomatoes but also peaches. She disliked apples and dry bread but was fond of pizzas. Pierina had a nice napkin around her neck so that from the top of the tree I could still see her. She got lost once, in our understanding that is; or she disappeared, in her understanding that is. If she did that on purpose or not it is not for us to know. Tortoises have simple minds that can be very complicated at times. They follow their own logic, which is: food, sleep and shelter. But they also like being tickled over the shell; having their head and chin stroked. Not a clever move for those who lived during the French Revolution. Tortoises travel very slowly when you're looking at them, but if you decide to turn around for a second they will disappear in a flash. And it's no use looking for them because they are gone for good; a bit like men that is.