Heaven Glued To Manila

When I was a child being innocent and unaware of the problems in the world was just fine with me. I was free and everything was new and exciting. In fact, I enjoyed childhood so much that I often said, I don't want to grow up, there are too many rules and responsibilities.

What I remember most from my childhood is loving to draw and having freedom to draw as I pleased. I also remember losing that freedom as I grew older and recognized my drawings didn't look realistic. I felt pressure to make them look right, pressure to conform and do things in a more conventional way.

It wasn't until years later, when I became a high school art teacher, that I began to realize just what it was I had lost. Pablo Picasso summed it up this way-

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

About the Poem

In writing Heaven Glued to Manila I imagined being in an art museum with a docent describing one of the paintings. The picture being described was full of energy and had fanciful figures like one of Picasso's drawings, but this piece of art was not a Picasso it was the work of a child.

Childish Wisdom Under Blue Sky

Heaven Glued to Manila

Stickmen are larger
than houses.
Blue tempera sky
drips over
the mountain.
A flower is as big
as the sun.
A tree is a circle
and heavy
with apples.
Each child
has a dog
or a cat
that looks
with big eyes
and wants
to be held.
Nobody cares
the chimney
is leaning
or the smoke
spirals backwards.
Everyone smiles
and holds hands,
watches the birds
that are glued
macaroni.

Author's Note

I think it goes without saying, but I had a great deal of fun making the illustration that goes with the poem.

Something to Watch For

I am currently working on a three part short story, I hope it will soon be ready for you to read. It is titled, Daniel.

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Writing and art are my own.