A jolly Stillwater Trolley car
Exists here along this small town street,
In the parking lot by mooring slips,
Out where river boat tours come and go
Upstream and down, dawn to early dusk.
As passengers wait to cross the ramp,
Eager to come aboard local fleet,
Interest in the Popcorn Stand begins.
Olfactory senses twitch, scents take hold,
Upon the breezes the crowds suck up.
Any near that aromatic car,
Enters trance-like state of money spend,
Instigated by the smells within
Outdoor Trolley's hypnotic control.
Ultimately, many spend a buck.
Yes, it's hard to resist the Trolley.
Yet, savored flavor leaves them jolly.
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Author Notes
I recently took a walk at the town of Stillwater, Minnesota. It's still winter, so there is no river traffic, leaves on trees, street vendors, or running trolley cars, yet. In fact, there was still some ice on the St. Croix River. But I spotted this colorful popcorn vendor's shop sitting there, ready for the season to start. There actually is a matching, moving trolley car that can be ridden around town, in the summertime. This particular one attracts a lot of business then, selling popcorn, caramelcorn, fudge, candy, smoothies, and soda drinks, as it's right by where the passengers load up to board the paddleboats.
Pantygynt introduced me to this style of poetic format with his poem, Railing Rattler.
This poem is a Vowelogram.
A Vowelogram is a poetic format the keys off the vowels used in the end-line words of a poem. It has five lines that use the five principal English vowels in their correct order A,E,I,O,U in the final stressed syllable of each line, which should end with the same consonantal sound. Thus there can be no true rhymes but five near rhymes in each stanza. Femimine rhyme and endings are permitted. Any metrical form may be used.
In addition to those requirements, I added some spice by starting every line with those same vowels (not a requirement). Further, the vowels sometimes include Y (A,E,I,O,U, and sometimes Y), so I added a closing rhyming couplet that included Y (also not a requirement). However, I couldn't achieve the near rhyme, so I did this one in free verse fashion, but did hold a syllable count of 9. I varied the vowel aspect in the couplet, because here I had rhyme.
This picture was taken by the author himself on March 11, 2016.
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