FABRICATION

I was there.

When the Red Sea parted.

When the sales clerk cut

the blood-colored fabric 

down the middle

with her extra-sharp

scissors. It was a delicate

procedure. First, folding

the 8 yards

lengthwise, in half.

Then pinning

it all down

a section

at a time. 

Then the blades:

snipping through 

the cloth, all along

the crease.

All this, for

a friend of a friend

who was shopping

for props

for her granddaughter's

3rd grade play

about the Israelites’ flight

from the Pharaoh,

from Egypt.

All this, instead of

what I thought would happen 

that day and didn't: lunch 




overlooking the Pacific

at Land's End


with a friend

as old as Moses.