Ode To The Penny I Found Between The Sofa Cushions As I Sat Down To Write This

Worthless penny

not to be glanced at

doing so 

would leave behind

a part of my promised soul

enshrined to efficacy

sworn to move forward

releasing those

no longer of service

But I love 

your shine

copperous magnetism

attracting spheres of Venus

childhood imaginings

and coin collections assembled

by my father and I

slowly configuring

our temples

fortresses against doom

armies of the forgotten

circling wagons

around our children

Stamp collection 

gathered

by my Granddad and I

the one

I tried to sell 

for drug money

no longer useful

to transport our words

around the globe

only 

presenting

stark 

antiquity

to be sold

for peanuts

received by those

to young to know

what to do 

with their money

or too old

to recall why

the Pony Express

were heros

or the unfolding pages

carried such weight

to a lovelorn 

schoolgirl

and the foxhole stranded

soldier

The wartime correspondences

from my one day

father

to my future

mother

when he wrote

'Hello Sweets, It's tough over here'

......much wartime censorship ensued....

...and she responded 

'I love you sweetheart. You are everything wonderful.'

Like you

worthless penny

whose shine

I admire

for the memories

you evoke in me

recalling a time

of my innocence

I was to innocent

to realize

I had relinquished

until it was gone

That night 

and that time

I would commit

over again

until I came

to recognize

I was no longer

shiny like you

and this tarnish

was the beginning

of dying heiroglyphics

gathering amber resin

unlocking the truth

that my soul

was coming to be

and what the fuck

was I going to do

about it

and I felt like you

shiny worthless penny

amongst the cushions

and flotsom

wondering

how the hell

can anyone 

spend me?

or why the hell

would anyone

care to?

As always, all my love, unrelentingly into forever,

Max