To Know the Name of Things

I wanted to find a way to describe the weekly open-air market in E-dong, but the only words that came to me were in the form of a poem.

To Know the Name of Things

“Sam-ch'on won,” the fairy whispers,

as she hands me 3lbs of orangeripe,

to-ma-tos: Three dollars.

Tomatos are one of the few bits of produce

that I can actually identify, and name

in this bazaar of the bizarre.

The Korean market in my city,

is something akin to

Shakespeare’s Fairyland.

Everywhere there is color, smell, taste:

magenta, incense, butterscotch.

And the little women carry laced parasols

to block out the sun.

There are baskets pregnant with fruit,

and tarps draped over candy stands,

that undulate with the seabreeze.

I raise my arms up and down, merrily,

in concordance with the tarp, and the

trill of the market.

The Koreans stop, and smile;

confused, bemused grins,

as their deep brown eyes disappear.

One young man looks up as he’s cutting rope,

and glances at me-

But something startles him,

and he quickly takes a second look.

It is my eyes that have captured his attention:

Blue, and so out of place

amidst these dark-eyed

spirits.

But still it is bothering me that I

do not know the name

for the cocoa rock candy, that the vendor

lovingly sets in my hand,

“Try, try…” he urges.

And I cannot identify the luscious

plants and flowers for sale;

their spikes, blooms, and vines,

are as foreign to me

as I am to this place.

“Try, try…”, the Fairy King smirks,

with his round, tan face glowing.

I know that, contained within this sweet,

is a potion that will make me

fall in love with this place-

Make me want to stay forever,

and never wake up.

I slip the candy into my mouth,

and roll it on my tongue as I breathe,

“Nay, Nay…mmmm.”

Yes, yes…delicious.

And in that instant,

though I do not know what it is called,

I have tasted its very Name on my lips,

leaving no need for me to utter it here.

The Fairy King’s eye’s light with delight,

and he gives a courtly bow,

as the candy slips me further

into my unnamable dreamland.