Excess Day in the Village of Essex

May 19, 2015 By Jeff Moredock 5 Comments

Flea Market/Yard Sale Items (Credit: Pixabay) — Items for sale (Credit: Pixabay)

On the eve of Excess Day
Husbands and wives
Can be heard
Bickering back and forth
Trying to determine whose excess
Must leave the house

Husbands cling to old rods and reels
Wives insist they need their curling irons
Small children hide balls and dolls
They haven’t played with in years
Dogs hide their worn-out chew toys

But when dawn breaks on Excess Day
The sidewalks are lined with the
Detritus of daily life
Fishing reels curling irons balls
And dolls and much much more

The crowds sweep down the street
In search of bargains treasures or
Just something they don’t have
And don’t need or so say
Husbands to wives
And wives to husbands

By mid-day prices begin to drop
As the crowds begin to thin
Books bird houses bar stools
Pottery paintings and more
Fly off the sidewalks and
Before long the day is ended

One family’s excess is now another
Family’s excess and sure to be seen
Next year on the
Other side of the street

Jeff Moredock, June 2013

[This poem is included in Jeff’s poetry anthology, Poems from Essex & Elsewhere. Visit “Excess Day in the Village of Essex” by Jeff Moredock” to watch a video of Jeff reciting this poem.]

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About Jeff Moredock

Bred and buttered in Dry Tavern, PA, Jeff Moredock was, before he gainfully retired in 2004, a farmer, folksinger, minister, teacher, coach chaplain, headmaster, and a chief operating officer. Married to a saint, he and his wife, Etta, have two children and four grandchildren. They have been summer residents of Essex since 1980.

He first began writing poetry in 1979 when he was the head of North Country School in Lake Placid. In a fit of scotch-fueled frenzy he wrote a long narrative poem that included the names of the school’s 87 children, 25 teachers, 10 staff members, and countless community pets. Read aloud at the school’s annual Christmas dinner, it received sufficient praise to encourage him to continue the practice through his career as headmaster at three schools. More poetry followed, most often poetic testimonials for various friends’ birthdays, weddings, and retirements.

Poems about Essex started to bubble up about the turn of the century, and since then he has written more than a dozen, all noting and celebrating people, places, and events in and around Essex. He has published a collection of poems, Poems from Essex & Elsewhere and a collection of short stories, Nine Holes, Nine Lives: The Front Nine. He has also written an unpublished mystery novel, A Zebra in the Lake, set in Essex. Suffice to say, he loves words and he loves Essex.

Comments

Katherine O'Hara says

May 19, 2015 at 8:26 am

What is the date for Essex Day ?

Reply
- Katie Shepard says
  
  May 19, 2015 at 2:27 pm
  
  Essex Day is usually the first Saturday in August and that is the case this year: Saturday, August 1, 2015. Keep an eye on this website and calendar for announcements!
  
  Reply
Cameron says

May 19, 2015 at 2:05 pm

When can we read the Zebra in the Lake? I badly want some good pulp from the Great Northern Grist Mill!

Reply
eveticknor says

May 19, 2015 at 8:25 pm

Jeff, you have been mightily missed! As has your pen. We are glad both of you are back ( You too, Etta).

Reply
Jeff Moredock says

May 21, 2015 at 4:32 pm

Excess Day is the exact same date. Amazing! Zebra In The Lake needs a bit of updating before it goes

Reply