Demolition Derby at the Adams County Fair

"How y'all doin'?"
the man at the gate asks, stooped in our car window
hands in his apron
he was delighted that I had $12 in exact change
We park on muddying grass and
mosey off toward the Junior Fair barns
to scratch pigs' foreheads and
be nibbled by this spring's sheared Suffolk lambs
Skanky teenagers prowl for each other in packs
donning their best imitations of urbane street fashion
mixed with western wear
Taco In A Bag
Elephant Ears
Roasted Sweet Corn
Deep Fried Snickers Bars
cheap cowboy hats and confederate bandannas
are all for sale
Later, sitting on splintering wooden bleachers
before a rectangle of wet red orange clay
we watch smoldering behemoths
fight each other to the death
sans windshields
The main event smells of
cigarette butts, spilled sticky drinks,
mud, motor oil, and the dirty exhaust of condemned automobiles
Volunteer firemen stand at the ready
donning heavy protective suits officiously in the sweltering heat
a smashed Lincoln bursts into flame and
they run onto the track
dragging heavy hose in a slapstick routine worthy of a silent film
The crowd roars and hoots
it is composed of several busloads of misshapen and abused humanity
the pale forms of the rural poor
festooned with wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, hairdos two decades gone,
sunburns, beer bellies, bad tattoos,
obese children in cutoffs and flip-flops, amputated limbs,
sheathed hunting knives, and t-shirts with ripped off sleeves
people age fast here
They leap to their feet after a singularly tectonic collision
between the surprisingly agile Beretta and the seemingly-doomed car 733
"Everone needs to set down! Please set down!"
the announcer pleads in his twangily sing-song preacher-auctioneer voice
an axle breaks and soon it is all over
they clear out and head for the exits after the final gladiatorial heat
A solitary man, gray and bent
scours the emptied bleachers for aluminum cans
placing each one delicately in black plastic bag
Night has fallen
the dead cars are dragged away
the Junior Fair kids linger in their livestock barns
families shuffle back to their RV's and campers
and the fairgrounds is largely abandoned to
teenaged creatures of the night
celebrating fair week
by thronging the midway rides
and lining up for corndogs and lemon shake-ups