The big money in Iraq is in

the coffin industry

Business is Business and

Business is Booming

Even with the recent production increases

Sajad’s shop can barely keep up

It’s a good problem to have, he sighs,

wiping his neck, shaking his head and smiling

It’s a big day at the shop

An American news crew

has come by to cover the nation’s

fastest-growing manufacturing industry

The shop guys are excited to be on TV

as the news crew stages the shoot

Two newly polished coffins gleaming

in the foreground

Sajad and the boys beaming behind

The second worker from the right

smiles proudly and straightens his sleeve

just before they go live

————

Of all the many things Mike Wiegand is not, the most interesting is his not being an amateur balloon tightropist. Which is a term we just made up.