Market Day and Car Boot Sale
Market Day
The market starts at 7:00am,
Set up in the dark.
Pack the trailer day before,
Find the perfect park.
Set up a tent for privacy
And respite from the sun.
Be prepared to haggle price,
It’s how the deal is done.
Bric-a-brac and books and clothes,
Furniture and bags.
Gossip, chat, and fellowship,
Barbeque with snags*.
Ancient tools and hardware,
Fruit, vegetables, and plants,
Dresses in a style long passed,
And bright, flared hippy pants.
One man’s junk, another’s jewel,
Is how the saying goes.
Don’t be surprised what brings you cash,
That’s the way the market flows.
Clouds build up within the sky,
Pray that the rain holds off.
It took too long to set up shop
And we haven’t sold enough.
By midday the crowd is scarce,
Most business has been done.
Shades and stalls are coming down,
Market Day has been and gone.
We made enough to cover costs
And sold more than we bought,
But to do it all again next day
I wouldn’t give a thought.
(*snags = sausages)
John Hansen © 2016
After a lot of procrastinating I have finally self-published my first eBook of poetry "I Laughed a Smile" at Lulu.com.Now I find myself branching out and experimenting with short fiction.
I have also been fortunate to have two poems chosen to be made into songs and recorded. The first "On the Road to Kingdom Come" by Al Wordlaw, and the second, "If I Could Write a Love Poem" by award-winning Israeli/British singer Tally Koren.
I am also finding my services increasingly in demand as a freelance writer and I have ghost-written the text for a number of children's books and educational tutorials.
It has taken me many years of searching and restlessness to realise that my life's passion is to write. It saddens me that I wasted so many years not devoting to that, but thinking positively, the experiences gained over those years are now wonderful material for my stories and poems.
I want to try to bring a new focus on poetry and try to make it appealing to a new generation of young people and those who thought they never liked or understood it before.
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I’ve been there and done that with arts and crafts, and my God it just wasn’t worth the pain. Mind you many people do it as a living. Its too hard! Nicely expressed of that whole market feel and long, long day. Cheers!
Hi Tony. I can understand people doing this to make a living if they have no other choice and what they sell is popular but to me it isn’t worth it. Setting up the stall, equipment etc….sitting around all day…then packing everything up is just not worth it to me unless I was making around $500 for the day. This day we made $50. To make it worse as we were packing up my wife tripped over two folding chairs and twisted her knee doing multiple ligament damage. Now, she is in a wheelchair, having physio, and on a waiting list to see an orthopaedic surgeon. Fun, fun, fun.
Oh my goodness, John – I hope your wife heals quickly. How painful that must be.
I love your lively and fun poem. Reminds me of the days the whole family would go out to the “Flea Market” on Saturdays, in San Jose, California. That is a huge affair. Sellers set up their tents once though, for the whole summer. At night the gates are locked and security guards and dogs patrol. But, to do it as in your poem must be very difficult, a lot of work.
Joy to read your poem. Very nicely penned.
(sixth stanza: Oray – Pray?)
Thank you, Phyllis. They say it is a long term injury..can take months to heal. Worst case scenario is surgery. Yes, it was very much like a flea market that went for the two days of the weekend. We could have camped there for the night but after my wife fell over we definitely weren’t doing that. Life ain’t easy at the moment, but there are many worse off. Thanks for pointing out the typo.
I really enjoy an open market, from a buyers perspective; but I can’t imagine the effort pulling it together. We just had our local Octoberfest and it was fun to peruse, especially books and plants, and I enjoyed conversing with some of the sellers. I like that you wrote a poem on this John, sorry it was a bad experience for you and especially your wife. Perhaps next time you guys can just mill about, find treasure and enjoy the community. 🙂
Best,
Mel
Thanks for reading , Mel. Yes, I much prefer to just stroll around and peruse the stalls in the hope of finding a hidden treasure or something I need. Much better than being a seller and having to set up and pull down.
Bright flared hippy pants. Love it. You nailed this experience. It is not something I like to do, but have done a few. I also don’t like going to anything where people sell their own stuff. I don’t know why because I’ve found many a gem. Nice rhyming too.
Lori, it isn’t much fun. Glad you enjoyed this though..especially the bright flared hippy pants. been there, worn those 🙂