Falling
in love with a poet . . .well, not that
kind of love. But I’m definitely smitten with the idea of a busker-poet, and
the image that a certain young man projects as he sits at the Lake Forest Park
Farmers’ Market to create poems on demand.
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C. Stavney working at the Farmers' Market August 28, 2015 |
He is amazingly gifted. Shoppers at the busy farmers' market wander by his chair. Some point at him; some read his sign and giggle; some stop and talk. Children love him, crowding around to see the keys of the typewriter move up and down. The lucky people who decide to become customers can offer topics, words, or occasions to write about, or they can describe a situation that begs for a poetic take. Whatever he gets as a ‘poem seed’ appears to immediately inspire him. He removes a sheet of paper from his backpack, rolls it into the platen of his small manual typewriter, and begins to write.
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Writing a poem for me on July 3, 2016 |
His sign (taped to his typewriter case) announces that
he will write a poem for any price and reminds his customer (in parenthesis) that ‘free’ is a price.
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The poem written September 4, 2016 by C. Stavney at the Farmers' Market in Lake Forest Park, Washington. |
Last weekend I jokingly threatened to reenact the story of Rumpelstiltskin by trying to guess his first name. And I
did! But I won’t share it; he admits he withholds it to establish market mystique. I think his gift is all the more remarkable for his age, and the University of Washington must agree with me
because I also learned he'll attend the U.W. this fall as an upperclassman English major. The UW is a stickler of a school to be accepted to, and he's not yet twenty years old (is actual age is another piece of his mystery).
Today I told him I was going to write about him on my blog and asked for a poem I could 'publish' here. I proudly use it with his permission. When Mr. Stavney is famous, I'll boast that I was his patron“back when” he was busking his poetry at the Lake Forest Park Farmers’ Market.
Today I told him I was going to write about him on my blog and asked for a poem I could 'publish' here. I proudly use it with his permission. When Mr. Stavney is famous, I'll boast that I was his patron“back when” he was busking his poetry at the Lake Forest Park Farmers’ Market.
2 comments:
He is definitely a wonderful and original poet- and a great addition to the Sunday Market! What a superb blessing: WE have a poet providing nutritious and beautiful fare as well as all sorts of other more typical vendors! I have a poem he wrote for me last time I was at the market. It's a delight: quirky, aware, with a surprising twist at the end. Thanks for writing this piece, Sallie. Do send it to the Shoreline News. He deserves praise & publicity!
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