“The Phantoms for Which Clothes Are Designed" by Chase Twichell

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 19, 2017   The Phantoms for Which Clothes Are Designed   Chase Twichell

Sewing patterns are designed for imaginary people, based on average measurements taken in the 1930s by the WPA   and adjusted over the decades by the Industry.   I sew a Misses 14, designed for a woman 5'5" to 5'6", 36/28/38,   which is to say no one,   so I alter the pattern to fit a phantom of me instead of a phantom of her.   She doesn't need any more dresses.            Copyright © 2017 Chase Twichell. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "I do a lot of sewing (clothes). Construction is easy compared to fitting, which is basically math coupled with anticipating how a fabric will behave in 3-D. I've probably made a hundred dresses that are perfect on the hanger but don't fit well enough to wear into the world." —Chase Twichell   Chase Twichell is the author of Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been: New and  Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2010). She teaches in Warren Wilson's MFA Program for Writers and lives in upstate New York.   Photo credit: Michael Klein Poetry by Twichell   Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been: New and  Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2010) "The Sadness of Clothes" by Emily Fragos "Loss" by Carl Adamshick "Toad" by Diane Seuss Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. If you enjoy Poem-a-Day, please consider making a donation to help make it possible. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038