TURN COAT
(1995/ revised 2001)
A man faces terminating his aging mother's life support. He buys a new coat to wear to her funeral. The coat becomes a surrogate comforting mother until it is "tagged" one night by a young gang member with indecipherable graffiti which appears to infect the coat. He finds drug paraphernalia in its pockets and the coat seems to take on a life of its own. In a hallucinatory showdown he confronts young gang members who have taken over the expanded lining of the coat. Issues of urban territorially and personal security are explored in this symbolic tale. |