wither
away not
to thee gifts reason
of art
wingless dove bestilled
on halfpace empyreal thy breast behooves
thee further
o'er yond clingiest fairgrounds
moor dawning flora
promising showboat sanctifying lightness
up from their beds and
to their feds and down
to their peds
all the same maternally presence clement
intimate cavernous fire claimants contest
a fleeting gesture
of unattainable love
Categories:
fairgrounds, analogy, bird, endurance, hurt,
Form: Suzette Prime
May I show you the shades of my colorful heart
that are airbrushed in love like a true work of art
May I play you a tune of my favorite song
I'm here to engage you and help you be strong
May I dance you to laughter and bring you a rose
from a fastidious garden, where everything grows
May I pull out the stars from the heavens above
and shake down the moon that is oozing with love
May I dream of tomorrow alongside you my friend
and show you the beauty, that only time mends
May we visit the fairgrounds of life once again
taking carousel rides from our happiness glen
May I show you the shades of my colorful heart,
they are airbrushed in love, a true work of art.
Categories:
fairgrounds, appreciation, journey, love,
Form: Rhyme
Have I been too long at the fair?
by Michael R. Burch
Have I been too long at the fair?
The summer has faded,
the leaves have turned brown;
the Ferris wheel teeters . . .
not up, yet not down.
Have I been too long at the fair?
This is one of my earliest poems, written around age 15 when my family was living with my grandfather in his house on Chilton Street, within walking distance of the Nashville fairgrounds. I remember walking to the fairgrounds, stopping at a Dairy Queen along the way, and swimming at a public pool. I believe the Ferris wheel only operated during the state fair, so my “educated guess” is that this poem was written during the 1973 state fair, or shortly thereafter. I remember watching people hanging suspended in mid-air, waiting for carnies to deposit them safely on terra firma again, neither all the way up nor all the way down. Keywords/Tags: Fair, State Fair, Amusement, Amusements, Carny, Carnies, Ferris Wheel, Roller Coaster, Leaves, Dangling, Suspended, Fall, Falling, Limbo, Big Top, Big Show, Circus, Carnival, Sideshow, Gypsy, Gypsies, Summer, Autumn, Child, Childhood
Categories:
fairgrounds, absence, allegory, allusion, analogy,
Form: Verse
The circus was coming to town
And of course I had to go see
For I'd heard the world's biggest clown
Was a headliner to be.
So off to the fairgrounds I went
And with the crowds high in the stands,
It was some afternoon I spent
With the wild animals and the bands.
But the world's biggest clown to see,
In his funny suit, long tie and mop hair;
He's why most of us paid the fee
For this act supposedly beyond compare.
Until saying anything he wanted
And flip flopping every which way,
In his clown suit how he flaunted
The absurdities of life today.
And maybe our eyes deceiving
But this clown I thought why the fuss;
I mean his act to be believing,
Surely, the joke must be on us.
Categories:
fairgrounds, political,
Form: Rhyme
a decuain
I walked the fairgrounds 1962,
a penny for my thoughts at age thirteen.
I loved to gather up loose coins with Hugh
the grandstands cleared out, we would start to “clean”
I walked the fairgrounds 2015,
just looking for cover, in case it rains.
Too old for bending, Hugh and I both lean
on walkers, and compare our aches and pains.
The sixties found my lack of funds, a bane;
but now it’s health concerns that cause my strain.
written 19 February 2016
Categories:
fairgrounds, change, growing up, nostalgia,
Form: Quatrain
If you are moving along undetected
Then no one’s busted your door open
Or thrown your face around the room or the fairgrounds or the apple well
No one has mentioned all the colors that exist
And the people who are quiet aren’t about to start shouting about the colors they know.
It is not the sun that bursts but our eyes
Like fretful demons looking for new places to spotlight and hide and make warm
And this cold and then a weariness tripped up by your own dopamine,
A flailing faucet spring where walls are built between people and the places they might go
and fly a kite.
Now, that kite isn’t mine
But I’m gonna try and get it up there anyway
Up and into that big blue sky
Where freedom pours down like pails upon us.
Categories:
fairgrounds, lifepeople, people, places,
Form: I do not know?