What You Would Shoplift

We all love thrift stores

like we all love the scent of stale capitalism

and dressing up in someone else’s addiction.

We all love to play the salesman

casting irony on the wool sweater

and the postfeminism name pins that say

Ask me about my smile.

 

If I shoplifted a thrift store

would America be great again?

 

We all love thrift stores

like we all demoralize our history

and put it in the clearance bin

for Sunday’s Reckoning.

(It will sell better if you are the victim.)

 

We all love thrift stores

like we all love to repurpose a graffitied wall

with even more politics

and paint it all the colors

of a genetically modified farmers market.  

 

If I shoplifted a thrift store

would it even make a sound?

 

We all love thrift stores

like we all love to taste someone else’s language.

We all love to snicker with cynicism

remembering the time

we thought we were worth something.  

 

If I shoplifted a thrift store

would I get my worth back?

Would I find my identity? 

Would it even make a sound?