trees

do we ever write anything that doesn't have a presupposed audience by our narrative? i dunno. maybe i could write something and talk about a tree, and maybe i would want to remind my audience of the tree that we saw one day, or a tree that we sat under, or a tree that didn't exist because we thought the gardens were in a different place (even though we tried to get through the locked door), but maybe i would also like my audience to think about any tree - their tree? the trouble is when i write the word tree everyone automatically thinks of a tree. a generic tree? a tree they have seen? the tree that is next to their house? i don't know. maybe a childhood memory tree. so maybe you will never see the tree at the top of the hill at the end of gyllyng street next to the park, nor will you see the giant tree at the top left of my garden, that used to have our swing on it, but maybe you will see your tree. maybe my tree is pivotal to my story. i guess i could explain it fully; its leaves, branches, colour, size. but i don't like writing like that, believe in writing like that, believe that i have to explicitly state something. that's the beauty of the written word, each tree is the readers tree. even if i described it in detail, it would probably still be a collage of the fictional tree and the reader's personal tree.

precious cedar tree