Antique Dealer

I am a dealer in antiques,
Offering for sale things of the past,
Fondly holding in my hands
Things grown beautiful through remodelings.
Words -- old words -- that still can warm the heart.

Oh, I have a few harsh ones, too;
Twisted, hateful things,
That lacerate the flesh that handles them,
As sharp as a shrewish tongue.

Oh but perhaps you would like to see --
Would like to purchase a heart?
Look! here in this musty earthen jar,
Are scores of them -- some slightly cracked
Some twisted all awry -- some broken outright.
See! how widely this one gapes!
It was a young girl's, broken by her lover
Or here is a mother's heart that knew a wayward son.
Here is a heart that was crushed by circumstances;
And here's one pierced by the sharp words of one's beloved;
Or one torn through the treachery of a friend.

Here are old memories --
All kinds of memories,
Bought at a great price --
Now sold for almost nothing.
Here's a baby's shoe,
Whose former owner outgrew it
And went the way of all flesh.

I am the dealer in antiques,
Dealer in heart strings.