Secondhand by Meagan White

I walk through the aisles of

mismatched junk from people’s lives

that they donated for the sake

of a tax break

I walk to the baby aisle and see

a pair of brand-new baby shoes

with the tag still on—score!

As I ring up the new shoes

and all the used other stuff

the checkout lady pauses

and stares sadly at the shoes

as if she doesn’t realize

how lucky I was to find them

at a secondhand store like this