A Sunday car boot sale. Eyes swivel left, right, down, up, for value. People dream or stop to chat … how much for that? A fiver … three, two, one, or nearest offer … teddies, dolls and plastic swords, toys on wheels … she’ll love that … glasses, cables, plugs, unwanted gifts, mugs, pots, rags, shawls, jumpers, trousers, frocks, linen, shiny trinkets, books, mags, prints, discs, records, chairs, shelves, mirrors, bells, rugs, tools … objects of desire lure as metaphor … stuff … beautiful and ugly scraps, are carried off in plastic bags.
People, thin and fat observe each other, nod or shrug shoulders, roam … ladies walk stately in big hats, toddlers run off, sunburned babies sleep, bored kids tweet or text, dogs strain on a leash or are fed, men with tattoos strut, a batman rises from the neck, geometric arms, flowery legs, stars form a line down a spine …
Leaving the cross currents of the human aspirations, I retreat …
back to my peaceful patch, where ribbons flutter in the breeze, endowed with wishes. Colours glow with life, ever changing. And simplicity affords my gaze inside – through the gap of nature’s light and shade.
And later that night I watch the wide screen … tragic accidents, people fighting for what they presume right, trapped in beliefs, and, oh, Andy Murray wins a tennis match for the UK, and is glorified as UK’s knight.
Course of Mirrors 
Touched and touche ( no accent aigu so Franglais will have to do). My equivalent. A lit fest, all quietude and eyeing up, conspicuous in solitude, too many cups of tea to look convivial and then retreat to take off glad rags and lie on the lawn. Whew! Enough!
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A lit fest … magical summer nights and blessed solitude make up for all the rest.
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nice poem, Ashen, very zeitgeisty 🙂
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Was unser Geist der Wirrnis abgewinnt,
kommt irgendwann Lebendigem zugute … Rilke
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not sure if my google translation was enough to grasp Rilke’s thought, something about reclaiming spirit :))
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What our intellect claims from chaos will sooner or later benefit the living 🙂
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or destroy the living he he
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There is another aspect to the destruction of life – it releases individuating potential.
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Simple but very evocative.
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Thanks, Katia ☼
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Very cool piece. The car boot – we call them trunks here, the trunk of the car. Back in the swap-meet (flea market) days, held in drive-in theatre lots, folks would pull in, occupy a space, open the trunk, devoile! Goods for sale. Traveling marketplace, tinkers, tinkerers. There is something poetic about it, each boot a poem.
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Swap-meet, great term.
Yes, poetry. The car boot was a .spur of the moment decision. I made £50 in two hours from stuff cluttering up my shed. I had to think on my feet, evaluating what the person before me would be prepared to pay. Great fun.
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A busy day and in the sunshine at last.
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A day full of sensory input, replenishing (or over-stocking) those rooms in your mind. Envious of your lovely chair amidst the greenery!
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My sanity sun patch. This being the wet, if green, isle, a rare but greatly appreciated delight.
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Lovely, Ashen! 😀
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Car boot sales are heliish in the summer, always seem to be in desert conditions, beating sun and no shade. Makes you appreciate the cool and quiet of home. Lovely contrast.
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The ideal tends to hide between extremes and laugh at us from a sphere of the imagination.
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My British ancestry has left me fascinated with the idea of a car boot sale. Can you just open your ‘boot’ anywhere or do you need a permit or do you just get together with a bunch of like-minded souls and find a park or parking lot to display your wares?
The closest thing we have to this is our ‘garage sale’, but it is more for single families and happens on our own property. We advertise on street corners. Every weekend there is a new crop of signs that go up. Everyone looks for a bargain. Occasionally, there are ‘flea markets’ in various locations but in order to sell you need to rent a table, which can get rather pricey.
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Neighbours in streets here might get together for a garage sale, though they seem to be more frequent in the USA.
In the UK, a car boot is like a flee market (Flohmarkt on the continent). They happen in towns or in big fields. It costs anything between £6 and £12 per car, depending on size, and you can put up a table or spread a blanket. Excellent place for people watching …
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