First Saturday of Summer in Virginia

First Saturday of Summer in Virginia

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Day lilies dotting the ditches orange,
between tilting mailboxes, amid blue chicory
and swales of yellow buttercups.

Northwest on Jefferson Highway, alert for bright
yellow signs printed YARD SALE,
freight train clanging on my right. To follow

arrows onto gravel driveways through the woods
to arrive at run-down trailers or two-story
homes with wraparound porches, wide front lawns

and tables of children’s clothing, glassware,
games, dolls, obsolete electronics. All around,
blue tarps on wet grass with bags of worn quilts

and sheets, paired shoes and boots, jeans laid out
like Civil War soldiers piled in an open grave.
To drive from sale to sale as the sun climbs

the sky, blue as Hollywood eyes, coffee
in a GO cup. To end at the Art & Craft Show
at St. Jude’s, where men with orange flags direct parking

across the street from mounds of mulch, gravel, sand,
compost. To watch a teen tap dance to the beat
of a jangly country song, swirling her flared skirt.

Thank you for reading The Nation!

We hope you enjoyed the story you just read, just one of the many incisive, deeply-reported articles we publish daily. Now more than ever, we need fearless journalism that shifts the needle on important issues, uncovers malfeasance and corruption, and uplifts voices and perspectives that often go unheard in mainstream media.

Throughout this critical election year and a time of media austerity and renewed campus activism and rising labor organizing, independent journalism that gets to the heart of the matter is more critical than ever before. Donate right now and help us hold the powerful accountable, shine a light on issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug, and build a more just and equitable future.

For nearly 160 years, The Nation has stood for truth, justice, and moral clarity. As a reader-supported publication, we are not beholden to the whims of advertisers or a corporate owner. But it does take financial resources to report on stories that may take weeks or months to properly investigate, thoroughly edit and fact-check articles, and get our stories into the hands of readers.

Donate today and stand with us for a better future. Thank you for being a supporter of independent journalism.

Thank you for your generosity.

Ad Policy
x