River Fare
Unkempt husk
Solitary mandate
Penny for the thoughts
of an isolated ingrate
Thanks for the copper
Lincoln makes for good company
as we share similar fates
in the face of the crowd
One of us being phased out
of the necessity of hand-to-hand circulation
One of us being phased out
of the necessity of physical connection
One will oxidize into greener pastures
and sentence a dead President to a putrid zombification
One will die the lonely ox, trying to sow those same fields
with a broken leg
waiting for the click
of a farmer’s rifle
I will not spend the penny
Not sure I could, but
I will give it its due respect
and a heartfelt eulogy
as I recite the ways in which
we all relate to that common copper
and the importance
of a single cent
finding a second to clink with
deep inside God’s forgotten pocket
and making the subtle sounds that prove
we exist
When the time comes
and the last coin has cracked
I will take two
secretly saved for this moment
to raise high above my head
to glimmer in the light one last time
before I lay down
and place them over my eyes
knowing it’s not much
but at least it’s something
And that
should be enough
Then again,
it’s just my two cents
.
.
.
