The man who sold buttons
and thread walked the mud roads
before the birds were building their nests.
This was back in the thirties,
down on the farm. And the man
who  bought rags returned
in early May - he was followed
by the brush man, the itinerant preacher,
and the toilet cleaner. In June,
the wandering cobbler appeared,
and the hatter arrived with the hay.
Then came the bouncy seller
of sarsaparilla, the lame allergist
who read palms, the feather merchant,
and the painter of barns. The distiller
of applejack clattered into the yard
on his cart as the apples were being picked.
They always knew what was done or needed;
they came until it snowed: the drifter
who sold blankets and earmuffs during
the first frost, the man with liniments,
the blacksmith, the mender of sleds,
the peddler who had cough drops and peppermints.