SALVAGE

 

A joy to recycle to the thrift store

St. Vincent de Paul my favorite

One of the few still selling to the poor

Affordable clothes, household goods

Books, CDs and videos

Did a huge closet clean last year

Split the stuff between

St. Vincent’s and the Red Cross

Lately, my mild case of hoarding

Became a ukulele thing

Who needs four concert size ones

But my first was a mail order

Since no music stores carry them here

Haven’t played it since the Luna, Ibanez

Don’t want to sell the first

Means a lot to me

Learned to play more advanced songs

With its tinny, but wonderful, voice

Ah, must recycle it

None of the thrift stores or pawn shops

Have ukuleles (I’ve checked)

What a great surprise

For someone with limited funds

To find one there

I’ll bet they won’t charge more than $20

Who will buy it?

A young child

An aging woman

A teen boy

I feel excited

I’m writing mind-scenarios

Maybe one day

The buyer will say

I owe my fame

To the thrift store ukulele

That called my name

From the shelf…

 

© 2016 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)

IMAGE: My first concert ukulele