Minnesota State Fair poetry - State Fair butterheads

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August 27, 2007
Jeff Jones - Producer, Leslie Ball - Reader
Listen: Fair poem 2 (Ball)-0351
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Now, another scene in poetry from the Minnesota State Fair... The butter-head sculptures remain one of the Fair's most visited features, attracting new-comers and old-timers alike. Minneapolis writer Leslie Ball made it there today and was moved to write us this poem.

Transcripts

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SPEAKER: We common folk call this the dairy building. But the letters above the entry read Empire Commons. The Commons allows us access. The Empire giving foretaste of the imperial majesty that awaits inside these hallowed halls. In the farthest corner, a revolving glass chamber. Beyond the glass, beyond our reach, a dozen pedestals ring the chamber. On each pedestal, a 90-pound block of butter in the classic dimension of the golden rectangle. A golden, golden rectangle.

A sign says, it is 38 degrees inside. For over half a century, Princess Kay has ruled over this empire. On day one of the fair, she enters this chamber, and sits for most of the day as sculptor, Linda works her magic-- whittling away the butter block to discover within it the butter bust. This royal family has no king or queen. We are Minnesotans, after all. But there is indeed only one Princess Kay, and the 11 others ladies in waiting.

Today, it is Erika of County Nicollet. Erika has been to the fair every summer of her 19 years, and still remembers seeing her first butter head at the age of four. She dreamed then of being a member of the court. Here she is today. Erika smiles, waving her mittened hand. Some day this fall, she plans to host a huge corn roast, and use her butter bust as the condiment centerpiece. And in the colder days ahead, she will bake holiday cookies with the butter shavings, collecting in the bucket at her feet.

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