Throwing Copper

this was written 28 November 2012 as part of a 365 project. top photo was taken then, bottom photo taken yesterday.

Throwing Copper

First off, let me state that i wouldn't consider myself rich; not sure that i would even want to be. i have written a bit about this previously so i won't go much into that aspect. i am comfortable enough, for me. Second point i would like to make is that i don't particularly like to carry loose change around with me, travel light and unjingly. In the older days of cash prominence, change would come back home with me but not typically make it back out of the house. It would sit in some type of collection vessel. Sometimes years. Then one day when the vessel was about to spill over or i was a bit short of the paper stuff i would undertake the task of sorting and rolling then cashing in. i really have no use for pennies. It still bewilders me that as a society we couldn't have come to some type of ruling that items for sale would have to be rounded to the nickel therefore eliminating the need for the penny altogether. It costs the government something like 2.5 cents to make a one cent penny. i don't believe many businesses would stay afloat using that ratio in manufacturing costs. But rounding up or down to the nickel would surely leave somebody somewhere feeling cheated. Which is what is i suppose the real point of all these words is about, greed.

Everyday we hear about deficit this or debt that. So prominent in the news today is the looming Fiscal Cliff (a created deadline brought about by the lack of culpability of our past elected officials) and how both sides won't budge on what they feel is unfair taking of their monies and entitlements. Why should i have to help them. How come they don't pay the same as us. To me it is sickening, as it simply boils down to pure greed. Listen to the news reports today, on all the top hype networks, and you will hear about the record Powerball jackpot that is hoped to be won tonight. People are spending simply ridiculous amounts of money for a 1 in 175,000,000 chance of winning. Something like $300,000,000 was spent in the past week. (yeah, i bought one. 1) Somebody put it as: take 175,000,000 pennies and place them in a line from coast to coast with one of them having an X drawn on it. Then drive to anywhere along the line, stop and turn one over. Black Friday sales figures are at record breaking levels, for the past four years. Something like a billion dollars was spent over the past weekend. All of that for necessities, i'm sure. With these amounts constantly thrown about, a penny seems like an absolute trivial trinket.

i have always been in the habit of viewing the change in my hand as i walk out of a store after having made a purchase. Any pennies that didn't stand out as being old or a key date would get tossed to the ground. i harken back to the days of being a little boy and finding a penny or two on the ground. What a thrill. My hope is that some child walking into the store with their parent would see my dropped pieces of copper and get the same thrill. Of course in this day and age the thrill has probably lost most of its luster. Give  a kid a penny and watch the look they give you. But i still do it. Also of course, these days i typically don't deal with cash much more. How long before we become a completely cashless society? My point in all of this is if each person living in the world would give up one penny, it would equate to something like $70,000,000. Imagine if we could talk people into giving one dollar? Easy to say. 326/365

Bowl of Rain

Look out of any window

any morning, any evening, any day

Maybe the sun is shining

birds are winging or

rain is falling from a heavy sky -

What do you want me to do,

to do for you to see you through?

this is all a dream we dreamed

one afternoon long ago

Walk out of any doorway

feel your way, feel your way

like the day before

Maybe you'll find direction

around some corner

where it's been waiting to meet you -

What do you want me to do,

to watch for you while you're sleeping?

Well please don't be surprised

when you find me dreaming too

Look into any eyes

you find by you, you can see

clear through to another day

I know it's been seen before

through other eyes on other days

while going home -

What do you want me to do,

to do for you to see you through?

It's all a dream we dreamed

one afternoon long ago

Walk into splintered sunlight

Inch your way through dead dreams

to another land

Maybe you're tired and broken

Your tongue is twisted

with words half spoken

and thoughts unclear

What do you want me to do

to do for you to see you through

A a box of rain will ease the pain

and love will see you through

Just a box of rain -

wind and water -

Believe it if you need it,

if you don't just pass it on

Sun and shower -

Wind and rain -

in and out the window

like a moth before a flame

It's just a box of rain

I don't know who put it there

Believe it if you need it

or leave it if you dare

But it's just a box of rain

or a ribbon for your hair

Such a long long time to be gone

and a short time to be there