On a walk together we hugged trees. Some felt warm, others cold. Many of these trees also had lichens.
I didn’t like it at all when they crumbled off from the hug and got stuck on my clothes. It felt uncomfortable on my skin
as the lichen stuck to my sweaty hands and spread across my face when I touched it afterwards.
Many tree swings have
lined our path. The ropes had grown into some trees.
Such a tree still stands at the edge of the forest, very close to
my grandmother’s apartment. The rope has now almost completely disappeared into the branch.
I wonder how he’s feeling.
Text and photo: Chiara Bals
Chiara Bals (*1996 in Dornbirn) lives and works in Vienna.
www.skulpturundraum.at
