What Is a Garage Sale?

A poem in the driveway or maybe the front yard

It’s when you settle into folding chairs in your driveway or your mom’s with a couple close friends who also have stuff they hope to release

into the wild while trying not to get over-protective when people you’ve never met show up in your neighborhood and talk

you down until you feel that all you have is worth one, two — let’s say five dollars for everything — and the neighbor kids make

more from their Pillsbury brownies and lemonade in paper cups.

I was thinking about my CDs and how I don’t feel like selling them, and suddenly I had the idea for this poem. It’s never been easy for me to achieve the sense of detachment necessary to be good at having garage sales. When I make an effort toward getting organized, I do better by setting aside a few things I can sell on eBay and donating the rest. Or I keep stuff, like my CDs.

We had garage sales when I was a kid and my grandma would come over and bring items to sell, too. It was fun hanging out with her and my mom all day. In other words, garage sales are fun in my memories, but not so much in the present day.

Thanks for reading this. I’m working on a poem every day this month…