A Madman In The Fabric Store

Originally posted 4/27/2012.

A man who has found himself 
alone in the stacks of fabrics
is about to become a problem:
the abundance of corduroys, denims, twills,
crushed velvets, satins, and silks
is setting his trigger.  It’s too much,

he tells himself.  It’s all too much 
and simpler is better and clothing is 
optional.  It’s all flammable and vain
and anyway, who still makes their own clothes?
We are ordained by God
as consumers
and not producers,
just as I am ordained
as fuel
and not as torch…

he kneels in the middle of the store
with a lighter,
baffled by the choices before him:
should he light the tulle, the organdy,
the glittering green Spandex? 
Before he can choose

he’s tackled, driven to the ground,
brought down screaming
that it’s all too much, blah, 
too much to feel, blah blah, 
too many choices, blah, blah, blah; 
the same old blah, blah, blah we hear every time
from those
who somehow find being American 
too damn hard.