The Corner Market

Transcript

1. The market on Bell Street opens before the neighborhood wakes up.
2. By seven the sellers have built neat walls of oranges and apples.
3. Nothing here is arranged by accident, and the best colors face out.
4. An old man sells honey from three hives he keeps outside the city.
5. He explains the difference between them to anyone who slows down.
6. Two stalls further on, a woman fries pancakes on a flat iron.
7. The smell reaches the corner, which is exactly the point.
8. Prices are not printed, so regular customers know what is fair.
9. A newcomer usually pays a little more the first time.
10. By eleven the crowd is thick and moving in one slow direction.
11. Children are lifted onto shoulders so they do not disappear.
12. The fish stall closes earliest, because the ice cannot last.
13. Whatever is left over is sold cheaply in the final half hour.
14. By two the street is empty except for crates and wet paper.
15. On Monday the same space is nothing but a quiet parking lot.