Parchment, Please
Near the year
1000
we find
Maximos Planudes
nude
writing to a friend
in Asia Minor
asking for parchment
because the right quality
is not for sale
in his own neighborhood,
presumably Constantinople.
In the end,
all he receives
are some asses’ skins,
which do not please
him in the least,
and a note:
Dear Max,
No parchment
till the summer,
months after the population
begins to eat meat.
Low yield
should come as no surprise,
our medieval animals
being much smaller
than their modern
counterparts.
Love,
A. Minor
Copyright Credit: Sasha Steensen, “Parchment, Please” from The Method. Copyright © 2008 by Sasha Steensen. Reprinted by permission of Sasha Steensen.
Source: The Method (Fence Books, 2008)