John Delaney’s most recent poem to appear here was “Dream Batter” (December 2018). 

Penny Thoughts
By John Delaney

Scooped from my pocket,
you make me realize,
by coin-cidence,
how time is loosely spent.
We were minted in the same year:
a wheat cent and a baby boomer.
Awash in the world,
we lost our luster
hobnobbing
with the masses,
often nickel and dimed.
At times jailed in a jar,
you saved your freedom
for a charitable cause.
How many debts have you paid?
How many dollars broken?
What was wished on you,
and where and why?
Did it ever come true?
Hard to imagine such a small thing—
one might say “insignificent”—
could make everything
and everyone
count.
Our shared destiny
is to keep circulating,
making change,
defining the difference.