County Fair
Roger Jones
 

We know these fairgrounds blindfolded, but we return yearly just to walk the dusty midway, among arcades and lights; to breathe the scents of hay, candied apples, and cotton candy; to pass through stock barns full of burly steers, blue-ribbon chickens, bleating goats; and to walk among the award-winning quilts and jars of preserves.

In the growling din of thrill-rides full of screaming teens, our pre-teen kids hurry us along. They barely notice tiny beeping motorcars, twirling bears, pony carousels they rode just a few years ago. A couple of years from now, maybe three, they'll be here with friends, not us.

searchlights
criss-crossing the night sky
harvest moon

Roger Jones teaches creative writing at Texas State University. His tanka, haiku and haibun have appeared recently or are scheduled to appear soon in Frogpond, Stylus Poetry Journal, American Tanka, Modern Haiku, Heron's Nest, Sierra Nevada College Review and Simply Haiku.

Copyright 2007: Simply Haiku