The first thing I ever saw in this world was a tree.
I don't remember what kind of tree,
but Mr. Nelson assigned the drawing,
and I was in the 5th grade.
Before then,
I never knew how leaves connect to a branch,
or how a trunk connects to the earth.
Sitting in the dirt kickball field, paper in lap,
through neurons and synapses
my eyes connected to my brain and
down into my graphite pencil.
Slowly,
it traced
the skinny
contour
of the trunk
in front of me.
My mind replayed Mr. Nelson's words,
"Class, I don't understand why
I'm getting drawings of tulips
when there are no tulips
in the field. "
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