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Posts Tagged ‘money’

In Second Grade

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 30, 2025| 2 Comments »


 
 
I wanted that plastic recorder.
Wanted it so much that when mom
suggested I could earn that two dollars
by defrosting the freezer, I sat
on the black-and-white tiled kitchen floor
with a blow drier on high. For hours.
Sat there watching each drip.
Sat there longer, perhaps,
than the cumulative time I played
my recorder, but I tell you,
I cherished that brown plastic tube.
Every “Hot Cross Buns” I played
was an anthem to self-determination.
Almost fifty years later I don’t remember
what I read yesterday, but I remember
one a penny, two a penny.
I remember the drip, drip, drip of the frost.
I remember my mom saying,
No, not yet. Keep going.
I remember my lips on the mouthpiece,
the flesh of my fingertips
pressed on the holes,
the shrill music filling the kitchen.

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 Things to Do While Trapped in a Bank Vault

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on August 17, 2024| 6 Comments »


 
 
Count the cash. Make stacks of cash.
Tall, teetering towers of cash.
Watch them crash. Build them again.
Whole green cities of cash.
This was what you dreamed of, yes?
Wish you had a sandwich. Maybe
a glass of wine. Heck, how about
a glass of water? Tap water’s fine.
Notice your stomach grumbling.
Think about eating a dollar.
Decide you’re not that hungry yet.
Make the bills into fans.
Fan yourself like the queen of cash.
Wish someone else were here
to join this dream. Is this a dream?
Please let this be a dream.
Wish you could use all this cash
to buy something. Like a sandwich.
Like a ticket to Hamilton. Like a key
to get you out of this vault.
Like a glass of tap water.
Like a window to see the sky.
Why did you ever think you’d trade
what you had for all this cash?
What you wouldn’t give now
just to lie in summer grass.
And eat a peanut butter sandwich.
And stare at the sky as it changes colors.
That genie was right.
Be careful what you wish for.
 

*


This poem was inspired by Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale by Dan Albergotti. It’s a lot of fun … just imagine yourself trapped in an unlikely place and give yourself a list of things to do … 

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For Your Thoughts?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on November 5, 2019| 6 Comments »

 

 

 

This year it costs 1.8 cents to make a penny.

It is, perhaps, similar to spending an hour

on an eleven-line poem that very few people

will read. And still, they mint the penny.

And still, I write the poem. Because

tradition. Because poems and pennies

are easy to spend. Because sometimes

the small things make life better—

something to wish on, something

valuable beyond its surface, something

humble to catch the light.

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I’ve Got $1.41

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on October 20, 2015| 3 Comments »

A penny for your dreams—

they’re as curious as thoughts.

A nickel for your laughter

if it comes out of the box.

A dime for your happiness

if you’ll share it with me.

A quarter for your apple

if it falls far from the tree.

A dollar for your love,

but only time will whisper

if it’s money down the drain

or a happy ever after.

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