Give a penny, take a penny
I suppose that's all I am to you
a little copper disk that you can
nonchalantly toss away
when all your coins weigh down too heavily
and the clinks of protest cloud your mind

Give a penny, take a penny
you release me from your beguiled hold
and believe you can discard me
while I, and your other bygone pennies,
will idly decay
as we slip softly into sidewalk cracks
and moribund couch cushions
until you have forgotten our cold, carved faces

live a penny, fake a penny
I am not your currency
to be traded out at your will
or attenuated by your market
where you have deemed the cost
it took to create me
greater than my worth