shops in town

in good weather
thirty days form Paris to Marseilles
from the good town to Paris
a week in nice weather

if it's needed
for daily life
but can't be made
at home
you'll find it in the good town

little winding streets
each according to
their own art
find your street
and find your needs

glass workers lane
tanners row
butchers street
parchment makers boulevard
Gold smiths court
cloth merchants drive
shoemakers drag
fish parkway
bread byway
wine avenue
wool drag
rope road
cutler way
tailors groove
saddle maker track
coffin maker dead end
pastry roadway

goods are made in the rear
and sold over
a small counter
directly upon the street
where the customer stands
while he drives his bargain

here comes a possible buyer
all attendants shout out
in a terrific uproar
each trying to bawl down
his neighbor
praising his wares
and ready to drag in
any buyers

shout out the worse
about the competition
it's only proper
praise inferior products
but watch out
less a guild officer
come by on his way.



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