J. Bear Savo

BEHIND THE BLOCK: The poetry of auctioneering

BEHIND THE BLOCK: The poetry of auctioneering
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Besides being an extraordinary auctioneer with a handsome beard, I’m also a poet. I primarily compose senryu, micropoems structurally identical to haiku, but while haiku concern themselves with nature, senryu tend to be about the idiosyncrasies of human existence. Naturally, some of my senryu are centered around aspects of auctioneering. Here are a few examples…

I find my childhood
in the attics of strangers
and then want to play.

Royal typewriter:
duochrome obsolescence,
pretty nonetheless.

Motionless soldiers
lead into pretend battles,
your captain long gone…

Cranking phonograph:
he declined to bid further;
his wife slapped him hard.

Vintage tits and ass
stacked in a dusty boxlot:
$400!

More examples of my poetry can be found on Speltr.

Photos courtesy of Carlo Savo; photographed for Savo Auctioneers, LLC

There’s far more to being a professional auctioneer than merely marketing merchandise. Each Wednesday, Behind the Block explores the precise methods, the elemental madness, and the intrinsic humanity of the auction industry.