Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Farmer's Market



image borrowed from bing


Farmer’s Market

“When tillage begins, the other arts follow. The farmers,
therefore, are the true founders of human civilization.”
--Daniel Webster.

Love the colorful splash
of an open-air market
midst the arsenic-gray concrete
of a fallow-brown urban landscape,

those international flags & flavors,
endless rows & tiers
of fruits, meats, candies, glass art, jewelry,
and apparel;

being privileged to wander along
rough burlywood puncheon planks,
interfacing with ceramic tiles
of cinnabar, cornfower-blue
& terra cotta,

moving past silver racks
of screaming silk scarves;
congo-pink, atomic-tangerine, b’dazzled-blue,
bitter lime, British racing-green,
carrot-orange & heliotrope stripes;

huge jars of jelly beans, pungent platters
of chocolate confections, mossy burlap bags
of exotic coffees & far-eastern teas;

bunny-dust grime on steel-wheeled carts,
carrying stacks of Egyptian-blue plastic carriers--
signs of every size with barn-red, lemon butter, 
& saffron letters advertising fat salmon slices,
falu-fallays of pale white trout,
cerulean-frost sides of sea bass
on steaming beds of sparkling ice,
sharing the chill with squads of
cadmium-orange crab legs
& beach-sand clamshells,
surrounded by zip-locked sweating baggies
of cerise-chopped clam-bites;

where Asian, Indian, & Caribbean skin pigments
glisten on barkers in cyber-grape hats,
apple-green & mustard-yellow shirts,
khaki aprons with raspberry-stained sashes,
announcing their wares in several accents;

always finding buskers sprawled out 
on goldenrod blankets, Bulgarian-rose prayer rugs,
& cobalt-blue pillows, playing their acoustic guitars,
mahogany violins, chrome harmonicas, ivory accordions,
& brass saxophones, their blood-stained
blizzard-blue eyes smiling as the street strains
of music weave claret mists & beaver-beige moments,
as upside-down black-bean hats & lipstick-red
coffee cans gather liberty-green bills & silver faced-coins
with copper hearts, as grizzly & liver-brown dogs
sit patiently at their sides, their gray-green eyes
begging convincingly,--strumming & bowing amazon-green
strings with bone-ivory white fingers poking out
of black leather cut-off gloves, plunking 
with carnelian red & coquelicot electric-orange picks,
blowing hard into spit-soaked reeds, pressing
the brass keys lovingly;

wearing cyan, puce, apricot, & Hollywood pink
dress ties, festooned with ruby, jade, & emerald
stick pins, with their red-white-& blue velvet-lined
instrument cases, peeling sadly with faded
flaxen & falu leather strips, leaning against
golden gate-orange pillars & Islamic-green curtains;
most of the musicians in worn denims, tractor-green ball caps,
& eggplant lens sunglasses, many with
Honolulu-blue or jazzberry ear rings;

where even the walkers-by were decked out
in Mardi Gras finery; magenta, watermelon, 
& mango jeans, with lemon curry stains
on their licorice t-shirts, ginger sticks
in their playful grips, padding along
in Barbie-pink & crayola-red tennis shoes.

As I exit, I clutch to my chest
the strobe-light rainbow wild-flower emotions
conjured by prolonged immersion
in a passionate palette of pigments,
hugging them for hours, until they fade, 
begging sweetly for replenishment.


Glenn Buttkus 

Posted over at dVerse Poets Poetics

Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?

20 comments:

Brian Miller said...

dude....the farmers market is one of my favorite places to visit...so much color to take in from the veg carts to the people...so many different people there...ha...you get all kinds, but i love it...whew...all the texture and detail you capture is dizzying a bit...but its that lost feel i get that feels so good when i am in the midst of it...just trying to take it all in...

Brian Miller said...

just want to point out who is number 1 today too...ahem....hahahahahaha

Claudia said...

farmers markets are way cool... we have one in the city center on a cobble plastered place..so romantic as well.. love all the smells and colors... ha - love the cadmium orange crab legs....you make me hungry...for color...hmmmm

Claudia said...

....and i can live with being no. 3... just saying....ha

Mary said...

Ha, I have been at that market a number of times. Miss it, as I haven't been there in some years now. I remember some wonderful pepper jelly especially, and some wonderful fresh fish. And flowers! And yes, wonderful spices & smells.....not to neglect the mention of all of the colors. Well described, Glenn.

brudberg said...

Ah.. despite coming in late to comment here.. what a treat to have such a colorful place.. in all that grey concrete.. you must have used almost all the colors of the crayon box...

mrs mediocrity said...

Oh, yes, you made me miss our local farmer's market... one of the best parts of summer.

You did such a great job of conveying the entire scene, the smells, the colors, the sounds.

Just fabulous.

Unknown said...

You really spoil us with such luscious descriptors, we see all the beauty and excitement through your eyes. A worthy tribute to the founders of civilization.

Scarlet said...

Wow, I would love to go to your open market ~ So much international stuff, colours & scents to take in ~

Gabriella said...

I have never been to this farmer's market but I have visited numerous markets in Europe. They are not as exotic as the one you describe but can be very colorful too. You have certainly made me want to visit yours.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I love me a farmer's market - all the sights, sounds, smells and colours! We have a few street markets here in my seaside city, and I love the cacophony. You can see all of life here.

author.nara.malone said...

All the flash and color is so vividly depicted I can taste it.

Jeff said...

Why don't we see the world's beautiful display of color all the time? We get used to it, overlook it, unless we are somehow reminded to really observe and enjoy it all. Thanks for this beautiful reminder!

Abhra said...

Wow, such great details. I sometimes go to the farmers market on saturdays here and find it a very colorful spot, specially the fruit market - I could the same from your words.

kaykuala said...

There's so much color in a farmer's market. Basically the common feature in many parts of the world. More so when greenery is thrown in as well.The different people rich and poor all garbed in their own styles make it even more lively. Brilliant take Glenn!

Hank

vb holmes said...

Such fun to read all the colors you have in your box of painted words--and to revisit memories of happy times spent in various farmers markets.

Wolfsrosebud said...

"strobe-light rainbow wild-flower emotions" that's exactly what it's like at any open air gathering... nice

vivinfrance said...

You took me right there, and made me want to buy ... everything. Lovely.

Anonymous said...

Your "Farmer's Market" gives color aroma & personality...

Outlawyer said...

A super vivid picture Glenn. This feels like a very homey bazaar--I am imagining that big market in Seattle--I've not been there, but my husband--

I also love the way you hug the memory when you are back on your lonesome. Thanks. K. (Manicddaily)