Street Fair In Spring Poem by Stuart Welch

(We drove down to the World's LARGEST Street Fair in Carlsbad this weekend. Met friends and walked and ate and left with tired feet and a quiet ride home back over the mountain to the desert)




Street Fair in Spring







Cool morning start and comfortable shoes

Going to the Street fair.

Early morning Vendors cool buzz chat

Making rounds at the Street Fair.


Excited pockets, nervously empty ready

For ever, come to the Street Fair.


Sunglasses glisten Hollywood signs

Potters Pots thrown out back in a 1000 barns

Rainbow buckets of tie-dye hang on chrome metal racks
Sticky-buns, baked ready shiny sweet
Ready wait for the Street Fair.




Early morning Strollers pick at

Handpainted notepad, carved wooden duck rolling and
Sunglasses sunglasses sunglasses shield a million eyes

and rocks and stones and jewels shine hung on silver chains
Carved by unknown hand




Its handy, its magnetic

Makes it easy

Keeps on shining washable, You like?

Eyes question waiting for flash of green




And a bit of a chew

Of caramels from France and a dream of a place
Sets the People pace

to the Street Fair.




**************







Air warms and rolling padding feet as slap pace quickens, chat shortens

Repeat Incantations of can I help you can I help you
I only have one, this one, this is the best


Smiles migrate from behind boothtable where Vendors sat, stoic
waiting all morning behind grande’ lattes and ready wares


To the chitter chatter, baby holding, pick up put down, pick up put down
Point and point and point and
ANGELA, OVER HERE. They got it here Angela.


And the smiles migrate to people that
came to the Street Fair.


Until a point when the sun is too high
until a pang of hunger not satisfied
By street taco, thai stick lava cone lemonade pizza slice corn dog
teriyaki and a side of curly fries.


And now those that came late aren’t smiling
For baby child fidgets for cool place to put tiny cool head to sleep.
Sun high overhead, no cool shadows, gone for now
At the Street Fair.

********************


Those that smile become those that wander back to
Hot sun cars and crowd trolleys, cool buses or
walk walk walk, hot foot achers burn
tied to the end of aching muscle legs.



****************


From behind now cool 3rd latte, a vendor smiles,
rolling gently left over picked over in cool crinkly brown wrappers,
put away for another late comer

Or the next Street Fair.


Some curse, pulling down floating resin bulgy eye angels, sparkly things shiny
little dog, cat everything

Bright color brochure announced INVISIBLE SCREEN sprinkler solar insurance
Vote for Me Good for you
Taken from dark forest,
wasted now flutter rain down on grey hot asphalt.



Thinning now no talk money counted,
It all ends at 5

moving slow, heading home.

It ends at the Street Fair.