May 31, 2004

• My Everlasting Penny

  They say, “a penny for your thoughts.”  — but how about a thought about a penny?

  This weekend I had a dream about a penny.  In the dream, I was looking through some old stuff, and I kept finding all these old pennies.  After much searching, I found an old early 1900s Indian-head penny.  I was ridiculously delighted by this find.  Sadly, it was only a dream.  I know it’s of little-known fact, but I’m a collector of old pennies.  (Although whether you can call having 3 pennies a “collection”, I guess that’s up to debate.)  My oldest penny is a 1945 Wheat Penny.  It has Lincoln on the front and the words “one cent” on the back.  I’ve been in search of an Indian Head Cent for years now but still haven’t come across it. 

  But all this reminded me of a poem I had written many years ago.  First in 9th grade and then revised in 1995.  Here it is:

  My Everlasting Penny
  Mary Ann Nguyen
  May 12, 1995

  I own a little something
  too tiny for you to know;
  I own a little penny
  which’s value seems quite low.

  And you may own a dollar
  that you know not what it’s for
  but you found it in your pocket
  and its value is lots more.

  Well, my fortune, my dear penny
  is so small and round and faded;
  it has memories on its surface
  and is as tough as the day they made it.

  While your dollar is plain paper,
  straight and crisp and new.
  You can hold and bend and fold it
  but oops!  it may rip in two!

  So your bigger, better dollar
  that’s worth “so much more”
  is less than my everlasting penny
  and just ended on the floor!
  

  [Edit 2008:  I now have an Indian Head Cent from 1898!!  I got it sometime after the writing of this xanga entry.]

  • 12:51 pm
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