"The Garage Sale as a Spiritual Exercise"

Thanks to the "Poetry Off the Shelf" podcast, I recently discovered the work of Tom Disch. This terrific little poem has stuck with me:

"The Garage Sale as a Spiritual Exercise"

Once someone loved this piece of junk

If only for a moment at the mall

With its wrappings intact

And its price so much reduced.

You need me, it whispered,

And he couldn't disagree.

So he bought it, the way he bought

Everything he'd ever been sold,

In the belief that it would do the job.

And it did, for the longest time,

And never broke down or wore out

And in fact has outlasted him,

Because here it is, a sickly blue,

In the basement of the Methodist Church,

And now it means to have you.

You sneer at it and think: No way.

You can see only its tackiness,

The virus invisible back at the mall

Which now blots out all its viable features

Like triumphant acne. You don't see

The years of loving drudgery,

The promises fulfilled.

It needs you now, don't turn away.

Take it to the lady and ask what it costs.

Don't be proud. Remember the Beatitudes

And who gets the kingdom of heaven.

I really love this one, too.