(response piece by Lauren Flax)
Gone for Less
by Donna Gagnon
(inspiration piece)
his heart on a shelf, no sticker
indicating selling price
reflected in a shop window:
little-girl eyes swimming, a
tongue licking lips, finger twisting
hair against a fevered face:
‘can I, can I, huh?’
this ain’t no puppy,
no doll-faced toy, it’s really
a heart, thick, thumping
twisting on display
deep inside her pockets
there’s melted chocolate,
a few songs, bath salts,
lavender soap,
poems scribbled beneath the last full moon
she stares at what she wants
in the window,
her fingers play with what she has
to give, the things inside that
might or might not
be enough to buy
this heart on the shelf
in this window
she hears a voice that tells her
it could be gone for less
so she walks in the door
and she pays with a smile, a gentle kiss
to this heart as it’s lifted off the shelf
and placed into her hand