Banjo Origins (2): The Fifth String

It had been a drifter, getting by on odd jobs: guy wire for a weathervane, the main spring in the crouch of a cat, a corn broom’s binding cord.

It had learned to sing the wind’s several laments, to play with its prey, to teem.

It happened by just when the banjo was holding auditions for a new first string, & unexpectedly the fifth string got the part. Its square tuning peg was a perfect fit for that round & bottomless hole.

The banjo now began to resemble itself, like a forest that fills the spaces between the trees with more trees.