Garage Sale: Everything Must Go
Isabela Vargas
1. A Dr. Suess book co-edited by a young author who favored dandelion yellow crayons
2. Three white leather ice skates; one has been missing since a 2009 birthday party (there’s hope still)
3. An infant’s avocado costume that made 100 appearances on a deactivated Instagram feed
4. A pair of cowboy boots with embroidered flowers and breathing holes where the soles should be
5. A collection of bent and worn Pokemon cards that contained 8 Charmanders (note: they’re all fake)
6. Two cedar end tables with beer rings soaked into the finish; however, one reeks of Mittens who mistook it for a litter box
7. A box of participation trophies; a bronze trophy sits atop with a plaque that reads “2001 Ultimate Bingo Champion Third Runner Up”
8. A maroon journal, pages ripped from the seams, and a teenage girl’s confessions of high school love on the 38th page
9. A vintage oversized Chanel handbag, brown leather creased and scuffed as it was once used as a trendy diaper bag for three kids (it smells of J&J baby powder)
10. A purple prom dress from 1981 that still reeks of technicolor, cocaine lines, and fragments of the ozone layer
11. A bitter old woman holding a glass of extra sweet iced tea, sitting in a red Adirondack chair selling memories quick and cheap (she’s not for sale)
Isabela Vargas graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a minor in creative writing in 2024 and is currently pursuing a graduate degree. She writes, “Truthfully, I’m a very nostalgic person who loves to tell stories, so when the opportunity presents itself, I tend to write poetry that encapsulates these aspects. The piece you are reading today is an appreciation of the little things in life and snippets of their untold stories.”
Isabela wrote this poem in a course taught by Joanna Fuhrman, who selected the piece for inclusion in WHR.