All the fun of the fair
the noise, the smells, the spills
the fear – that wheel soars high,
but I want to go there.
*
Clanking dodgems crash
and grind, provoking squeals
from inept drivers
taking revenge
*
Candy floss beards
sticky little hands
roll pennies down a slot to lose
and tears roll down cheeks.
*
Swaggering beer-fuelled boastful blokes
pick up lethal weapons
to fire at and miss the targets,
failing to win the teddy bear.
*
Games of chance and games of skill
carousel horses and what you will
mud and squalor but beauty still –
that’s the fun of the fair.
A rather uimaginative contribution to Gay Reiser Cannon’s delicious prompt for dVerse Meeting the Bar. Some poets have come out of the two months of poem a day challenges writing out of their skins. I am not one of them.
Vivinfrance's Blog 
such enjoyable lines..
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Oh yes, that’s the fun of the fair! Well captured.
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You have captured all the fun of the fair, Viv! I love the smells, the tastes, but I can do without the fears. Smiles. And, if you can believe it, I have never tried my hand at winning a teddy bear!!
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So very spot on for the fair moments, giving us the poet’s eye view of the smells, sights, & folks who gather there, at the fair, if they had the fare to travel there. Big county & state fairs are part Car shows, carnivals, rodeos, & new merchandise shows, punctuated by gardeners & BBQ sellers; this conglomerate of all rolled up onto one spot for a week or so; a big deal. Loved your take on it.
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First one of the mix on this prompt where I heard the calliope playing (a memory of the Golden Horseshoe City Fair I attended as a youth). Awesome work to have a poem pull melodymemory out of my brain.
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I’ve been searching all day in my head for that word calliope! Thank you.
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You capture the magic in your inimitable way. I was taken there – so much to see and do at the fair!
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You describe the fair just as I remember it:)
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I loved fairs as a kid, and still do.
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Oh yeah it did get nasty when it rained. Forgot about those few times. My fav of course cotton candy. So nicely put together just flowed right through. Like a wave.
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We call cotton candy “candy floss” in Britain, and “barbe à Papa” in France.
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Reminds me of my childhood.
If you’re poemed out, take a break 🙂
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I love the beer blokes competing for a teddy bear.. just the type of craziness I would expect from a fair..
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you capture a bit of the fun and chaos that is the fair….i remember cleaning up the day after a fair once….the magic was gone and there was mud and tons of trash…
take a deep breath…ha…that is why i have not done them the last couple years
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Fun picture poem — stirred great memories. Well done
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Loved the first one, Viv.
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I know what you mean by ‘all written out’ – I find participating in challenges like that sucks me dry of inspiration too.
However, I do like your contribution – short, sharp, evocative enumeration of the trials and tribulations of the fairs – but also what makes them childishly fun!
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