I wonder how many pennies
are swept up into the trash in haste,
their copper then pitted by the acids in the landfills
Only to be found by some future excavation
and pronounced museum pieces?

I wonder if the marbles from my childhood
have any real value but to me?
Maybe fifteen of the same cents worth
that are thrown away everyday
Yet as many pennies are hoarded--
in jars, shoeboxes and empty water bottles--
as must be discarded

Since these coins aren’t in circulation,
then the Mint must keep making more
and more pennies to replace them
I have no idea of the cost but it must be substantial
Machines that turn change into dollars
have been installed in banks and businesses
to try and round up the prodigal coins

I’ve heard rumors of the powers-that-be
wanting to eliminate the penny from our currency
That would be a cost-saver, I suppose
But what of the corner grocer and his weekly ads?
Spinach is much more appealing at $1.99 a pound
then say, $2.00 a pound--at least to me
Strange, the psychological power of one penny

Children collect pennies under sofa cushions,
in the street and in the change found in pockets
and deposited on the clothes dryer on laundry day
I wonder just what the sum total of all the pennies
in piggy banks would amount to?
Probably enough to pay for my retirement
Gives new meaning to the saying, ’A penny saved
is a penny earned’

L.G. Figgins © 2010