the great festival

every August
in a field
by the river
just south of town

many things
for sale
some so unusual
you'll never see them
in any city shop
or market place

long files of travelers
on beast
and on foot

innumerable tents
flaunting pennons

bards and troubodours
here to entertain
and earn extra money

soberly clad
merchants
with attendants
lead
sumpter mules
laden with goods

flocking customers
old and young
rich and poor
smart and stupid
all vigorously chaffering
over money
and satisfying previously
unknown needs.

[Loosely based on a passage in Life on a Mediaeval Barony by W. S. Davis.]