Patricia Prime

Paihia Fair

thunderhead
vendors huddle in
their sighs

Last Sunday of the month.  We wander among the crowded stalls, admiring hand-crafted jewellery, knitted garments, glassware, paintings. My daughter picks up a dainty ceramic bluebird. She says it will cover a hole in her bathroom wall. I bought a pair of striped knitted socks for winter. But what we are interested in most are second-hand books. My daughter finds them, picks out several house-and-garden magazines for which she is charged a couple of dollars. A family of four stand in front of the section I’m interested in. They all have blond hair and wear identical pink jackets; they refuse to move, apparently trying to block my path. I’m superstitious, I won’t walk under ladders or jostle with four people wearing pink. Finally, the books I choose cost me ten dollars for five, and the seller isn’t budging until he’s got his chubby fingers on my money.

cafe garden
a flock of seagulls
fight for crumbs

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Author’s Note: Every month, people flock to the fair held in Paihia in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. They come by car, bicycle, boat, cruise ship or walk from their hotels or holiday homes. The fair is held in a park on the foreshore overlooking the sea. 

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About the Author

Patricia Prime is co-editor of the NZ haiku journal Kokako. She is the articles editor for contemporary haibun online and also a reviewer for Atlas Poetica, Takahe, and other journals.