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      June 4, 2013Jane’s Heartbreak Yard SaleLytton Bell

      Who sells used sex toys at a garage sale?
      I knew I had to pull over
      as soon as I saw that table full of dildos
      just to hear this woman’s story
       
      A whole bed was for sale
      and a claw-footed bathtub
      a motorcycle, a large stack of books
      lingerie and ten photo albums
      Photo albums?
      Leafing through, I could see that they were all
      happy couple love photos:
      their trip to Hawaii
      backpacking through Europe
      mountain climbing in Tibet
       
      And I shouldn’t forget to mention all of the love notes
      three huge cardboard boxes full of them. I picked one up:
      I stood outside your window for hours last night
      while you were sleeping
      hoping you would feel me there, and pull open the curtain
       
      I approached her as she sat by the cash box
      wearing a pair of over-sized pink sunglasses
      So, this is everything he ever gave you? I asked her, trying to be nonchalant
      She nodded
      I was going to light it all on fire, she told me
      But what’s the point?
      True, I replied, not sure what else to say
      She seemed so peaceful about it. Almost happy
       
      Just then I noticed a pile of CDs:
      Jane’s Joy Ride Mix
      Jane’s Taking a Bath Mix
      Mix for Jane for When She’s Feeling a Little Blue
      And one called
      In Case of an Emergency, I LOVE YOU
      It was sealed with yellow CAUTION tape
      and had obviously never been opened
       
      Can I buy this? I asked her
      $3.50, she said
      I gave her the money and put the CD in my car
      and cried and could not open it

      Lytton Bell

      “I like poems that throb and sweat, Dickinson, Keats—poems that flood your core with the frenzied thrill of just being alive. That’s the poetry I want to write, that rush of blood, the thumping heart, the urge that leaps into your mouth, leaving you no choice but to make passionate love to whomever is standing just behind you in the grocery line: because we are all sharing this perfect moment together.”