A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

State Fair Sonnet
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Listen (MP3)

I've been to this State Fair about every year
Since I was a kid and watched the walleyes
In the tank, bought a Veg-a-Matic, felt the sheer
drop of the ferris wheel, ate the deep fries,
the corndogs, rode the Sky-Ride, the Olde Mill,
the boats in a dark tunnel in the cold water
and it's so much the same that time stands still,
especially when I come here with my daughter.,
When I walk the Midway with her again
And smell the sawdust and French fries, I remember
How right, how delicious it was to be ten
And smell the crisp damp air of September.
Hold my hand, darling. Your old man is terrified,
Standing here at the top of the enormous Giant Slide.