Today's poem is lost penny by Irv Williams. It is read by Samaa Abdurraqib.
lost penny
during covid i lost my urge to pick up pennies i saw lying on the
ground or taking books from little free libraries
i started pushing elevator buttons with the back of my hand
and opening playground gates with a sleeve pulled over my fingers
back in the day when there were pay phones everywhere you went
i couldn't pass one without searching the coin return for some forgotten coins
a returned nickle or dime or maybe even a quarter pocketed out of sheer luck and surprise
spontaneous generosity from the god of pay phones
those days are long gone
where to look now that the gods of coin return have retired and probably gone to florida
to bask in the sun and reminisce about the way the phone bells chimed differently
for each nickel dime or quarter
when long distance operators would say
that will be eighty five cents for three minutes, please
and you were connected to a distant lover
for three wonderful minutes of sheer luck and surprise