Manifest Density in Three Samplers

Manifest Density in Three Samplers

 

1.    Frontier

“I’m making masks.” 

“Again? Is it that time of year already?”

 “I’ll make you one, choose a pattern.”

“I’ll take a teal one, no wait, the red,

            It reminds me of my grandpa.”

“You’ll look like Jesse James.”

“Not for nothing, you with that needle

            And cloth, remind me of your grandma.”

“You going to hold up a saloon?”

“Yes, ‘gimme a whiskey, all your money,

And a roll of two-ply toilet paper.’”

“I’ll stitch your name for myth’s sake.”

            

Simple sample.

 

2.    Homestead 

“I like your mask.”

“I know, you made it. Where’s yours?”

“I don’t need one, it doesn’t matter.”

“Why not? You’re not leaving the house?

            You’re staying here all day?”

“I’ve got nowhere to go, really.”

“Breathe easy, take it slow, make masks,

            For the rest of us?”

“I’m aiding and abetting, like grandma did.”

“Fair, you’ve earned it all, every stitch of

            The fabric is patterned from here.”

“Every stitch is counted from here.”    

           

Single sample.

 

3.    Ghost Town

“Where’s your mask?”

“I don’t need it anymore, I’m free.”

“Nothing is free, I’m trapped, alone.”

“I should have taken an extra, a teal one

            For my fellow criminals.”

“They robbed us of your breath, really.”

“I’m with the outlaws now, you’ll be ok, 

            Without me for a while?”

“Grandma never wanted to be alone.”

“But they left her everyday, to give

            Her space to sample, her distance.”

“It’s not that distance she wanted.”

           

Stranded sample.