Shiny Dime

I came upon an old man once Who told me to be wise. To care for those I really like Look deep into their eyes. Because eyes tell all I need to know To find out what is wrong, To hear what they are hearing, To know their favorite song. “I’ll try it out” I said to him That’s all he wanted from me. And then we went our separate way The next year I was three. In all those years that’ve come and gone I’ve known a lot of faces But those that I’ve remembered most Were in very special places. Like on the head of good-old-dad And mom she has one too, And all the people I work with (All but just a few) I try this out on everyone And it works quite well. Too well sometimes, I’ve been told, My head began to swell. My ego had taken over I had no control of my brain And then that same old man showed up And it began to rain. He told me I had made him sad Not used my power as I should. He said he’d take way my fun, And I knew that he could. I told him I didn’t mean to abuse it Put other people down Because they weren’t as good as me But the rain kept pouring down. I squealed and squirmed and apologized Until my face was blue Then the sun came shining up To give me try number two. I couldn’t get over the guilt I felt With my hero staring at me. He stared and stared and made me squirm Until I got down on one knee. I apologized to the mighty man He put me in my place He told me I got one more chance And a smile came across his face. I could have sworn it was an hour But only five minutes went by He yelled, he screamed, and blew his top So I began to cry. He stopped his yelling, gave me a hug Which I needed at that time. He told me I could be the best Then gave me a shiny new dime. I thanked him for the money And politely asked him why, He told me one I learned to care He’d come back and tell me why. I haven’t seen him since, mind you He’s neither here nor there. I try to be the best I can But not too good to care. That shiny dime is in my room The one on which I’d sworn. It sits upon my bedroom wall And I see it every morn. It reminds me of the old man I knew Before he went away To teach others how to care and love But he’ll be back one day. To tell me that I’ve passed with grace And do I have my dime? Because that little piece of silver Gets me into Heaven when it’s time. Thanks to Grandma Schmidt encouraging me to keep them, this is the first poem written down that I kept from grade school, written 1980.