Spare a thought for tiny penny,
how sad those folks that haven't any.
It's the smallest coin of the realm
and made of copper, like a charm.
Those who don't even have a stitch
they could become immensely rich
if only others to them brought
a shiny penny for each thought.
Penny Lane is dead
They all said
Took her out back
Gave the Aussie a shovel attack
Later shots were heard
Witnessed only by the nocturnal birds
Observing the murder go down
After bullets made the deadly sound
Companions who party
Should be a little more smarty
Since someone could drug the cupcakes
Served by the friendly fake
When she was baked
But true love
Watching from above
Saw the couple
Facing trouble
Working together
Fighting the hatred weather
Brought Penny Lane back
Who suffered a shovel attack
Now alive
Penny Lane grabbed the cycle wings ride
Big girls they did sing
Knowing one thing
They evened the score
Winning the war
Despite wearing facial gore
Penny Lane next time you meet
Enjoy the celebration sweets
With a true mate
A holiday worthy date
Especially when you both defend
Not needing any blokey men
Poetry Wheel Challenge:
Theme: Coming of Age
Emotion: Wonder
Color: Black
Season: Spring
Form: Free Verse
Object: Currency
Verb: Break
Created using the PoetrySoup Poetry Wheel.
A penny for my thoughts
would not have bought very much
when I was coming of age... years ago.
I looked at the world with wide-eyed wonder,
not able to see further into the future
than enjoying high school life with friends.
But every bubble bursts, and dreams break hearts
when the innocence of our youth Spring
suddenly turns black and seems to ruin everything.
One for a penny.
Two for a dime.
Three stole my sandwich.
Four said, "That's mine!"
Five blamed the goldfish.
Six years he served time.
Penny the penguin looked
everywhere in the ice for her
shiny coat button.
Her friend Leo the seal
helped her dig through a drift
of sparkling snow.
They found it hidden under a
bright blue shell, and Penny
cheered with joy.
“A penny for your thoughts,”
she said.
What is my thought worth?
I wonder.
“That'll be more than a penny,”
I reply.
“A penny for your thoughts,”
we say.
What might our thoughts really be worth?
Who can read them?
How embarrassing might they be?
Thoughts expressed and written
can be evaluated,
may have value.
Those that remain in my head
stay private.
What value privacy?
If I keep them secret,
what value secrecy?
Thinking aloud as on social media
may be costly
“In for a penny, in for a pound.”
I keep mum.
She is a sop to insanity, a foreign minister that sounds off like a gong.' With such alien love
She is imbued, of all things strange.' And imported shoes..' all the time she's been around, we've watched living Aussies driven into the ground' hope assailed and
Men denigrated, women disenfranchised
My nerves; are by now raw grated, i've known cross-eyed mongrels, with a better view; of
Aussie values, ya-know? just things true blue..Like safe streets. And parks' like beaches and lakes, instead its
The chop-suey
Only; menu..Or an empty plate, I'll swear she trading noodles, for spaghetti sticks
As albo, creams of millions..
Its sick sick sick.' And things really won't
get better.' All the time this
Wong one, keeps.' Sending off; all
those loaded red letters.'
As I ponder the meaning of life,
several things come to mind.
I'd love to share them all with you
but first... my formula.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Whomever coined the phrase
'A penny for your thoughts'
also phrased a coin
one would think
and what a pretty penny too
as one ought
now a penny saved is a penny earned
so I won't spend it on things you thunk
for my word is my bond
and I don't invest in junk
I have yet to see pennies from heaven
fall from the wild blue sky on high
but hope I do and if I catch a few
with wishful thinking
into the fountain they will well fly
yet should I spend a penny
on this or any other day
it would literally be
a penny pissed away
A one-time freelance stamp collector,
Tiny flaw, red-inked inferred branch,
One cent stamp, collectors gem,
Misprint worth six thousand,
Dealers called it rare,
Cash in my hand,
Lucky strike,
Good find,
Mine.
He seemed to know,
All life beyond his nose.
Indeed, he was smart-
Smart enough to wear a shirt,
Pressed, yet stitched with holes.
He wore shoes,
With wooden soles,
Unpolished, laces loose,
Yet confident,
His head high, it rose.
His uncombed hair-
A thicket pried the sky,
A gentleman late for work,
Along the streets of Newark.
In the city's hustle,
Vehicles crawl and hoot,
Beep-beep, through crowded routes,
That bear no fruit.
Pockets weep in emptiness,
While wallets stink and reek,
Of sweat with no pay.
He sits, waits, sweeps,
In a shop his stage, customers play,
They bleat, he bleeds,
Pale and incomplete.
One laughs, another scoffs,
Believing him mad,
Greedy for a joke, he isn't-
For all, he's just an old man,
Cherishing the little,
They will never grasp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I find them~
in the cracks of asphalt
in streets and parking lots.
They are copper pilgrims,
their heads bowed down,
waiting for my hand.
Some are slick with rain,
others dull as old bones,
but each one carries
the weight of a wish
someone forgot to make.
I gather them like
tiny suns, warm
from the sidewalk’s breath,
until my pockets sag
with the gravity
of abandoned luck.
I pry one from the teeth of a gutter~
Lincoln’s face half-eaten
by time.
Still,
I take it home,
lay it on the windowsill
where the light
could baptize it anew.
What is a coin
but a story paused mid-sentence?
I am the archaeologist
of small fortunes,
excavating where
no one else looks.
Someday, I will leave them
in places where hands
might need them more~
tucked under bus seats,
balanced on ledges,
for the next believer
to pocket a tiny prayer.
THE SHEER NOTION OF SURVIVING SEVERE TERRORIST THREATS HOME INVASIONS FROM MY STALKERS SEARCHING FOR OBITUARIIES HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES MILLITARY RECORDS OUTDATED CANCEL EXPIRED DEACTIVATED ID CARDS RANDOMLY ALTERING IMMUNIZATIONS RECORDS PASSPORTS MY STALKER BELIEVED SHE COULD ACTUALLY EXTORT MY HUSBANDS PURPLE HEART MEDAL HACKING INTO COMPUTERS TV AMAZON ACCOUNTS FINDING MY COLLECTION NON TAXABLE PENNY SENDING PRAYERS TO MY ENEMIES CORRUPT FEMALE MELVIN PURVIS OBSSESSED WITH MY LIFE HENCE MY DEATH MY SPOUSE MY FAMILY INCLUDING DECEASED LOVED ONES OBITUARIES UNAFRAID OF YOUR THREATS I FOUND YOUR TROJAN HORSE FROM VERIZON TO YAHOO TO APOLLO BACK TO YAHOO VIRUS MALWARE DISCOVERED YOUR TRASH THAT KNOCK OUT VERIZON CUSTOMERS TWISTED YOU TRIED TO INSTALL ON MY OLD COMPUTER HACKING INTO PERSONAL FILES MEDICAL RECORDS BILL PAYING RECIEPTS MULTIPLIED BY MELVIN PURVIS SUBTRACT JOHN DILLINGER AL CAPONE ADD NON TAXABLE PENNY DIVIDED BY ONE PHENNING BITTE DATA BREACH IDENTITY FRAUD CYBER ATTACK NOT A LEGAL TENDER BLUEBERRY DANISH SCONE FREE
what is equivalent to a penny
scrambled my brain but could not think of any
I can easily convert nickels into a dime
but equating pennies messes me up every time
I was born in 1793
I have a bronze sconce
For everyone to see
I get around the world scene
Much like Santa Claus
Much like Magdalene
Created in this image
I am also on the $5 bill
A Mt. Rushmorean visage
But now I must say goodbye
No more to be cast
No more to die
In each pocket that I tickle
No more keeping company
With a quarter, dime or a nickel
Because my worth is less than I cost
Read my epitaph
"A Penny For Your Thoughts"
Post Script:
In the death of me
A lonely one cent piece
Hold on tight to my memory
So don't let go of me in vain
Remember the Beatles
Remember Penny Lane
And I was hoping to relax
With this copper-toned beauty
That shored up sales tax
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