Candy Floss for the Kids - Aug 31 2020

Candy Floss for the Kids

Aug 31 2020

In the big city far from here

they prepare all year

for the carnival parade.

Where lithe young men

gaudily dressed, and athletically blessed

dance and sing and wave.

Where beautiful women

shimmy, step, and sway,

scantily clad

in peacock feathers

and skin-tight leather

and jewel-braided hair,

fabulous dresses

that get better every year.

Where extravagant floats sail past

entrancing clapping crowds.

While a calypso band plays

and steel drums mass,

echoing down the canyon streets

to throngs of happy fans.

And where the street food's delicious

and a patois of English

infuses the festive air.

Jerk chicken

pepper pot

banana-wrapped pastelles,

curried goat

flying fish

intoxicating smells.

And illicit rum punch,

with nutmeg and bitters

for that little extra kick.

But in small towns like this

we go to annual fall fairs.

Where pies are judged

and cows are milked

and a sweet-faced girl reigns

as the newest virgin queen.

Where a procession of antique cars

draws ooos and ahhhs and wows

from the small crowd looking-on,

fresh-picked corn

is expertly boiled

then sold buttered hot.

But the women are fully clothed

and no man would dare to be gaudy.

And in place of lurid tropical beats

and slickly choreographed numbers,

it's bluegrass

barbershop

some local country rockers.

We'd rather not know

what goes on down there

in the big smoke far to our south.

Because the curious have long ago left

while those who remain are content

with blue ribbon prizes

and champion livestock

and corn dogs on a stick,

soda pop

giant pretzels

chewy chocolate chips.

With men who are manly men

women who remind us of mom

and candy floss for the kids.

There was a piece in the paper today about the threat the Covid pandemic presents to the ritual of the annual fall fair. It was an earnest piece, about things like the mingling of urban and rural, the economic impact, the reinforcement of a sense of place and identity.

Recently, a friend had mentioned that her baking always wins prizes at our local Hymers Fall Fair. I was there once, the year I first moved here, but haven't been back since. Really, not my jam.

I couldn't help imagining the contrast between this tradition and events like Toronto's Gay Pride Parade or Caribana (now renamed, I think far less mellifluously, “Caribbean Carnival”), or the recent Notting Hill Carnival in London UK.

I thought it might be fun to play with these contrasting cultures. Not to judge. Just to celebrate difference. ...Even though the end does hint at insularity and intolerance. Although really, even without the loaded references to gender identity, corn dogs on a stick and candy floss (ugh!!) are more than enough to highlight the cultural gulf!