The street to the market is strewn
with last fall’s crumpled leaves
and last night’s flurries.
Bundled-up farmers are standing
behind tables of greenhouse lettuces
and plump hothouse tomatoes
jar after jar of silken honey
last year’s harvest transformed
into salsas and pickles
fruit bathed in syrup.
Voices like robinsong lilt
between market-goers and vendors.
Tempting scents waft from a stall
offering flatbreads and dulcet Syrian treats.
One woman sells bouquets of saffron
daffodils from galvanized pails
their sunny blossoms reflected
on winter-weary faces
still topped with woolen toques –
eager to push winter aside
impatient to merge into spring.
— from Juniper Volume 6, Issue 2