2022 Issue > Poetry > Sandbox

Artwork by Kelly Blondin
Sandbox
Megan Guoin
In a Medieval West African desert,
Salt used to be as valuable as gold.
They’d weigh it and trade it;
It was their edible currency.
I flipped open my light wallet
And wished I could pay with salt.
I still had salt at home.
I glared at the coolers in front of me.
The price of milk had gone up.
I wouldn’t be able to afford it
If I kept my other groceries.
But I needed the milk
And the eggs and the flour, and the sugar.
I’ll have to put something else back.
I bet I could find hotel toothpaste somewhere.
The grocery store was a vast desert of opportunities.
The relief of the oasis was
Too hidden in the dunes and guarded
By sandstorms and price tags.
To find water in the desert
They used to dig through the sand,
But I’m in a synthetic desert.
I opened my wallet again
And found the concrete base.
Megan Guion is an undergraduate student at UW-Platteville.
Kelly Blondin is a Madison, Wisconsin artist and and creative educator who works in multiple mediums. Being creative brings her peace and offers her a place to explore the world more deeply.