Secondhand Story
- Good Poetry
- Jul 13
- 1 min read
Updated: Jul 27

Visit a local thrift store, not as a shopper, but as a storyteller. Explore aisles of discarded garments: peeling leather boots, wrinkled dresses, scarves that still carry the smell of the first frost. Select a piece that resonates with you, then let your imagination speak. Who wore this before you? Where was it worn? Perhaps it was at a wedding, or a funeral. Why did the owner donate it? Maybe they hoped it would find someone like you. Use this clothing as a gateway to a poem. Tell its story: love, loss, joy, or regret. Listen to what the seams are saying and write about its journey.
Example by Elizabeth Chung:
i. leather jacket
dangling limp, strangled
by the mismatched plastic hanger,
shoulders disintegrating & peeling,
as if she was hugged
to ruination
till time stood still,
till the stars of day & night collided,
till Zeus wept over moldering cobblestones, rot
consuming the courtiers’ cadavers,
and underneath the wretched earth,
still the lovers embraced
worn with love, love-worn
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