Despite what some may think of me, I am more of an introvert than an extrovert. I have taken my typewriter to the Farmers Market on a number of occasions, but felt overwhelmed by the traffic and never actually set up shop. Today, my plan was to take my typewriter to the arts festival on Main Street, but I ended up dragging my typewriter around for a while and eventually returning to where I arrived at the Farmers Market and set up my “pay what you want poetry” shop next to the Fermentalicious stand my friend Sharon runs.
In 2 hours, I wrote seven or eight poems and made 132$, for which I was paid 1$ to 40$ per poem. I think I’m going to be returning to that corner at the farmers market more regularly from now on. I didn’t take photographs of all of the poems I wrote, but the ones I did I’m rather proud of and would love to share them.
When I asked the first woman who approached me what she would like her poem to be about, she said “surprise me.” This is actually a fairly regular request when I do public poetry, and I am proud to say that I have never written the same “surprise me” poem the same as another.
Suddenly, I had a line of people waiting for poems, and I did not think to capture photos of all of them. However, a young girl was heading off to Embry-Riddle for college to become a pilot and asked for some inspiration. I was happy to oblige, and her parents were grateful as well.
A reality TV star named Bella approached me about writing a poem for her true love to help draw him near. A short while later, one of her friends came by asking for something similar, remarking on how much Bella had appreciated her poem and that I had even included things that she hadn’t told me. She said I must be a bit psychic, but I’ve actually just gotten pretty good at reading people.
A couple of couples then approached me, and one of them asked for her poem to be about adventure. If there’s one thing I love, it’s a good adventure, and I hope the poem helps inspire them to seek it in their own lives. I look forward to seeing what poetic adventures next week at the Farmers market brings.
