The Village Show by Paul Stephenson

 

 


 

Paul Stephenson grew up in Cambridge and studied modern languages. He has published three pamphlets: Those People (Smith/Doorstop, 2015), The Days that Followed Paris (HappenStance, 2016) and Selfie with Waterlilies  (Paper Swans Press, 2017). He co-curates Poetry in Aldeburgh and interviews poets at:  paulstep.com 

 

 

             

             

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

My father was good at auctioning off marrows,

handsome shallots and prize-winning carrots.

 

He’d a knack for standing on a chair in the Hall

packed with toddlers and pensioners with sticks

 

who, at half past four, crossed the green for tea

and a slice of sponge to see about the judging.

 

He sold cars for a living but could also shift potatoes,

mixed bunches of summer flowers, fragrant roses.

 

From behind his beard he could bellow the bid

for a posey of sweet peas clasped in silver foil.

 

 

 

Paul Stephenson

 

  

 

 

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