Peaked white roofs point towards the rising sun.
Market day in Port Townsend! I walk up the street,
basket swinging from my hand.
The buzz of small town conversations reach me first,
the music of guitar and keyboard bounces into my ears.
Vendor carts filled with beauty from local organic farms
line both sides of the street, march down the middle.
A riotous disarray, smells of baking bread, grilled salmon,
bratwurst. A delicate lust makes me buy more than I can possibly eat.
Cheeses, tasty award winners, sit on crispy crackers.
Purple lilacs, red and yellow dahlias, frilled pink tulips,
soy candles with appealing names, Eggplant, Heirloom
Tomato, Cinderella Pumpkin, Lemon Basil, all
eager to light the way to my evening dinner table.
Golden, deep green, and brilliant orange squash of all
shapes spill out from baskets and boxes.
Beans abound, purple, yellow, white, and green lie in untidy heaps,
flanked by crisp green and white striped zucchini and juicy
tomatoes in an array of yellows and reds.
In my mind I see them sitting on my kitchen counter,
as much at home in the stillness of my kitchen as at the busy market.
My dinner plate waits patiently for their goodness.


This poem first appeared in Wording the Land Poetry Collection 2019 (Jefferson County Farmers Markets).
Used here with permission.