Bob Heman


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They told the machine about the bears and the machine showed them a picture of a kaleidoscope. They told the machine about the mountain and the machine showed them the picture of a box of crayons. The machine became two machines and then four and then eight. They were given numbers that had no other meaning.




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Games that are all about shooting, that are all about dice, that are all about their bodies. Games filled with animals that have numbers shaved into their fur. Games that are about the steps they take.




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Alice knows. She spoke about the photographer, about the cat she couldn’t see, about the deck of cards. She spoke about the coach drawn by bears, and about the only tree in the forest. They called her name, but she didn’t recognize it. She thought the house she entered was real.




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There were no more pictures of blackboards, no more chairs made of rope, no more stories about the punishment strap, no more women filled with whispers, no more doilies shaped like bears, no more cars that had to be wound up.




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The train is repeated on Mondays. On Tuesdays the doors are left open. Every Wednesday a woman is added to the room. On Thursdays the machines are taken apart. On Fridays the number "5" is explained. Saturdays are used to find the words they will need. On Sundays the preacher talks about frogs.




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Hats filled with a different kind of music. The woman a replica of a song about boats.




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Small women placed inside of unmarked crates. Small dogs placed where the doors are not complete.




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They talk about adding cinnamon, or pepper. They talk about the proper way to fold the sail. They talk about the density of mercury, or about the weight of the air. They talk about the steps the woman left behind.




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Each of the elevators had stairs inside.




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The cage on wheels is used to separate the men from the chickens. The door is not allowed where the yellow flowers grow. They can count the rivers only if they are not too close.




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A different configuration of the wheels, of the doors that slide open, of the men who must be punished. The distance that must be traveled to find these things.




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They are what the roof defines, what the water measures, what the shoes count inside their box.




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Looks for someone who is not yet part of the story.

One of Bob Heman’s [information] pieces is being published as a limited-edition mini-book/earring by Purgatory Pie Press. His e-books, How It All Began, and, Demographics, or, The Hats They Are Allowed to Wear, are available as free downloads from Quale Press.
 
 
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