A Ferris wheel, a magic show
And lots of games of skill,
Food trucks filled with fried or frozen
Fare were on the bill.
Exhibit halls with quilts and varied
Goods, all made by hand
And huge zucchinis shown
With other veggies from the land.
The rides and games and food, to me,
Held little in appeal,
But animals from local farms
Made it a worthwhile deal.
The cows and goats and pigs and sheep,
With every barnyard sound,
Were stretched out in their pens, relaxed
Or nibbling around.
They all looked clean and healthy
And quite fat (except the goats),
With ribbons on display they earned
By gaining judges’ votes.
As a New York City gal
I wasn’t dazzled by the fair,
But the chance to see those critters
Made me glad that I was there.
Some are adventuresome, some are weenies
Mostly I'll try a delicacy of another species
But the head of an animal
Staring at me quite affable
Somehow doesn't appeal like turnips or zucchinis
Zoning by micro-climates my
Yards' spaces, and then
Xeriscaping them to conserve
Water because of the drought, I can
Visualize neat straight furrows
(Under colorful vines
Trailing red, green, and purple grapes)
Saturated with various seedlings:
Radishes, squashes, sprouts, etc.
Quietly absorbing sunlight, and
Pushing roots deeper into my
Organically amended soil.
Nasturtiums, previously planted,
Misdirect insects away from my plants.
Ladybugs, and other predators, help
Keep down the hostiles that got through.
Jumping forward from Spring to Fall,
I can imagine picking tomatoes from the vines,
Harvesting football-sized zucchinis,
Gathering various root vegetables, and
Fruits from bushes and trees.
Eating unwashed sweet peas
Directly from their pods.
Cooking pies from mixed berries I grew;
Baking pumpkin bread or zucchini bread.
Agonizing again over what to plant next year.
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