Saleyard

• Jean Littlewood, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2009

The air was strongly scented,
Humidity vastly felt,
The hot sun blazes.
The general feeling is tense,
Felt by both man and beast.
And they’re off,
The words are slurred.
All men’s eyes watching, waiting,
Furrowed brows, thinking, listening.
A slight nod,
A loud yell.
The crowds’ swell, the anxeist thickens.
The beast’s eyes, terrified,
Wary.
The perspiration drips,
Higher and higher,
Until in a crescendo of cries, voices racing, murmuring,
A loud shriek,
SOLD!