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Flowers arranged in bottles
Photo by James Cousins on Unsplash

Poetry | July/August 2022

Rummage Sale

By Heidi Slettedahl

The woman in charge keeps her back to the table,
the reason everyone has come.
 
Baby clothes.
Get there early or they go.
 
Jumpsuits, onesies, bibs and overalls.
Mostly yellow, as if she didn't really want to know.
 
Unusual, this restraint, a throwback even.
No gender reveal, no party thrown, no extra gifts.
 
Baby Clothes (Unworn).
 
The sign itself
(the parenthesis of course)
stops me briefly
 
Long enough to lose out to another mother,
quicksilver thief.
 
Owner now of something perfect,
something imagined
 
Something lost.

Tagged: July/August 2022

4 replies on “Rummage Sale”

Preet Kaur Virdisays:
July 21, 2022 at 9:10 pm

This touched me, it speaks to an unbearable and unnameable burden. Thank you, its a beautiful poem.

Reply
Heidi Slettedahlsays:
July 22, 2022 at 6:39 pm

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your comment. A lot of my poetry speaks to infertility and loss.

Reply
Marjie Giffinsays:
July 23, 2022 at 11:03 pm

Touched me deeply.

Reply
Heidi Slettedahlsays:
September 18, 2022 at 1:06 pm

Thank you so much.

Reply

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