The Country Fair

.Pahn has driven by himself
to the country fair
                    in the afternoon
to buy books

As a small boy                          
he is standing among the stacks
 
                       He has been told that to be left-
                                 handed
                    like Hehrmess
his father               he cannot
have arms

Looking down at that boy
                      he is pleased to see that he is
armless
 
                                        unable to push away

But there is no one there

An adult                                                
who wants to be harmless would like to reach
                             and hug that child
                               but has to go to find his family…

…Pahn has gone away           and returned in the evening

Here in a dark       wooden room     Ahstrild
                   gives him her friend    before she leaves

Though Pahn has aged
         in these twenty years
Ahstrild’s friend        is still a teenager

They go to
                                 the ride

the one Ahstrild
                                    would have taken him on
They climb in                                                         
and the friend apologizes
                       that they can’t sit...next to
each other          

“They say it is too dangerous
when only two are in the ride”

It is hard to get into                     
the elaborate seat belts
that hold their thighs
and waists
and ankles

A young man joins them
   as the ride becomes 
     another wooden
                                          house

Pahn asks the man    what he has done in all this time
since he   and Ahstrild were young

And the man tells them
“I got a ride with a gentleman
and the car rolled”
                                                            (He is starting to cry)

“And it was a Cadillac”
                                                (He is falling apart
                                                like the car
                                                as it
                                                rolled)

“It cost so much”

There is nothing to be done

Driving again
                                  stopping
at the signs    with the brakes
         that so seldom
                              work on the hills…

…Egairia comes
                                     into the wooden house

Watching at a distance                                               
Pahn sees himself
greet her
He sees himself
talking with her   but   he can’t hear what they are saying
                         his view is grainy in the poor light
                              He can see she is serious...but not upset

She gesticulates
                                             like he does
maybe she shakes

his hand    and they both leave the room

.

.