The Jackson County Fair

In my travels late one night upon a country road Across the fields and in the distance something surely glowed Perhaps a fire over there? Though I could smell no smoke 'Go and take a closer look' a voice inside me spoke The road ahead, by happenstance directly brought me there And I beheld to my surprise a lovely county fair The smells and sounds and all the rides were such a welcome sight And yet it seemed so out of place for this late hour of night The time upon my watch had read eleven forty five Yet this old fair was in full swing and very much alive I looked around nostalgically while thinking of my youth I walked past games and rides galore and saw a kissing booth The cotton candy was so cheap I bought some for a taste It was so stale and very dry My quarter gone to waste But something didn't feel quite right as I looked 'round the place I saw expressions so devoid of life on every face Not only that, but all their clothes seemed years, no decades old And suddenly this summer night began to feel quite cold They stared at me, so quizzically I did the same right back And a little child glared at me with eyes of solid black A sudden chill went up my spine as they all gathered 'round And then an eerie stillness came as nothing made a sound A gust of wind came whipping through striking me with violence And in a flash the fair was gone leaving me in silence Just then I looked upon my watch twelve midnight was the time I peered around that darkened field in horror so sublime I made my way back to my car so shaken to the core The nighttime air was warm again just like it was before And that was when I noticed the For Sale sign by the road a weather beaten witness to an evil it forebode The next day at a diner I approached an elder local and asked about that property and he became quite vocal 'We used to have a fair out there but that was long ago The tragedy of '59 was quite a horror show' 'A gas explosion burned it down killing sixty five and I was with the lucky ones who made it out alive' I asked him what the date was when the accident occurred And recognition crossed his face before he said a word 'Well son, now that you mention it I knew that date was soon Just yesterday marked sixty years the 24th of June' 'Oh my God' I said in fear and slowly walked outside 'All those folks I saw last night were all the ones that died' In my car that fateful night upon that country road I wish I'd never gone to see that thing that surely glowed And you may not believe me but I saw it, I was there That ghostly reenactment of The Jackson County Fair 2/21/19