Jessica
Snapshot of Our Father Swap Meet by 9to5poet
Snapshot of Our Father: Swap Meet
His fingers
stroked the vinyl backpacks,
dented cans of generic
dog food. He studied
stitching on socks, pulled
peeling logos off purses.
We’d trail our father,
our small footsteps
fitting his own, in aisles
and aisles of hand-me-down
T-shirts and bulk detergent.
His eyes glowed, from want
of things. I’d find
the hollow Barbie dolls
sold without
clothes, you’d ride
the warped skateboards
with rusty wheels. We dared
not touch what we really
wanted. We always asked
for one treat: a sugar
coated churro, a pack
of yellow yo-yos. Anything
he’d say, for you.
***
This poem centers on one of my favorite memories from childhood, visiting the swap meet at the community college near our home. Since this was Los Angeles, it was outdoors. People would line up their wares on blankets and tarps, their products gleaming in the sun. Many people sold used items or handmade department store knockoffs. My father would take my brother and I there and we’d spend what felt like hours roaming the swap meet.
I’ve included this poem in Blameless Mouth because I am interested in the link between hunger for food and hunger for things. While I didn’t inherit my father’s penchant for bargain hunting, I did inherit a level of acquisitiveness that makes me uncomfortable. I may not haunt yard sales very often, but I do wander book stores, touching the spines of books I desperately want. To me, this is just as physical a hunger as buying food. In the book, there are other poems about shopping and buying, but to me this is my favorite, because it captures a memory of my dad that I hold dear.
***
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