Morning in the Market
Children race across the square
hair flowing, skirts blowing.
Shopkeepers lower their awnings
and bring out their wares.
An apple falls from a cart,
bumping along the cobblestones,
evading the children as it tumbles
between a vendor’s legs.
Old women file into the square,
some with aprons, some without.
Kitchens await their return
with breads and meats for the day.
The air buzzes with conversation,
prices questioned, gossip shared.
Mid-morning finds the carts half-empty,
breads arrayed to fill the spaces.
An apple rolls from beneath a cart,
cool from lying in the shade.
Sunlight glints on red,
and the children spy their quarry.
The bustle lessens, somewhat,
the shoppers finding fewer choices.
A reminder of the mid-day meal,
the sun shines high overhead.
The day’s fare nearly gone, now,
the last remaining vendors close up.
Plans already set in motion
hint at tomorrow’s activity.
An apple lies, half-eaten,
the game long over.
The taste of nearby orchards plays
on the tongue of a laughing child.
This is my response to the prompt To market, to market!, from Sarah at dVerse.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons – Market Scene, by Pieter Aertsen
Ken G.
Wonderful story-poem, and you read it just right.
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Thank you, Jade. I think it’s a poem that relies on inflection to help deliver a light atmosphere, so I decided to include a recording.
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Nice evocation of a long-ago market.
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Thank you, Jane. I had a folk guitar instrumental running through my head as I wrote this – what would almost be a period piece – so that was fun.
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I couldn’t hear your tune (obviously), but I could hear one of my own 🙂
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🙂
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Very pleasant reading, and playful picture of the many market games.
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Thank you. It was fun to write.
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Very nice–Ken, poem and reading. I like the apple rolling through the poem and how it ends with “The taste of nearby orchards plays
on the tongue of a laughing child.”
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Thank you, Merril. Once I introduced the apple, I realized it could be a unifying theme.
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It worked well.
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🙂
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The tides of humanity. (K)
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Thank you. Down to the basics.
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I love this so, and your reading is wonderful. Your last line lingers in my head.
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Thank you. 🙂
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“prices questioned, gossip shared.” Yep — the sounds of the local market. And love the follow through with the apple!
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😀 The thread that ties it all together. Thank you, Lillian.
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What a captivating poem! And I LOVED your reading.
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Thank you, Linda. That was as much fun as writing it.
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😊
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I really love this song… the image of that apple that you bring back is something that would make this something worth singing
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I hear you!. Thank you.
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Marvelous! Love the apple’s central role …
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Thanks, Jazz. 🙂
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I enjoyed your reading and yes, I could hear a lute softly playing in the background. Your calm voice gives the piece warmth.
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Thank you. 🙂
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Wonderful how you brought the human element into focus…and unified the poem with a rolling apple 🙂
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🙂 Thanks, Lynn.
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You’re welcome!
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Hi Ken! Very wonderful work! Honest expression shared openly. I am having an existential crisis tonight. I invite you to come visit me, cross my bridge of dreams, and listen to Joni sing like an angel!
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Thanks, Rob. 🙂 I’ll head there now.
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Enjoyable vivid imagery, Ken! I could see it all clearly. 🙂
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🙂 Thank you, Betty.
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