which esther still jabbers on about.
so when the fair came,
i knew i had to take her.
esther never saw anything like a fair before.
she said the midway reminded her of new york.
and at the age of six,
she knew already that games of chance
were just that.
she felt little affection for the sideshows, furious
at the booth where people took shots at the “nigger’s head.”
she did like the horse races.
for a while.
but what she loved most was
the livestock.
she wanted the names of the cows:
holstein, guernsey, jersey,
ayrshire, hereford, angus.
she wanted the names of the horses, too,
and the sheep.
she cuddled one little lamb, whispering in its ear that funny way she
does,
telling the lamb that
she’d be looking for it to come be counted tonight when
she tunneled between her sheets,
and i wouldn’t be surprised at all
to hear bleating from her bedroom come midnight
and find droppings down the hall tomorrow morning.