For Sale

For Sale - meaning Summary

Childhood Bargaining for Attention

The poem presents a child staging a mock auction to sell a younger sister, using repetitive, chant-like lines that mix humor with mild exasperation. The speaker pleads for a buyer while cataloguing the sister as "crying and spying," which captures sibling rivalry, attention-seeking, and the speaker’s childish attempt to regain control. The voice is playful but slightly plaintive, leaving the situation unresolved and highlighting everyday family tensions from a child’s viewpoint.