by Julia Griffin

For Mary

“The Penny Dies at 232:
A long decline into irrelevance ended on Wednesday in Philadelphia.”
—The New York Times

The penny drops. Its fall’s complete.
It cost too much, the bankers bleat.
You’ll have to junk your little stash;
Though Hamilton might think this rash,
Fiat and crypto have it beat.

The penny’s value was discreet:
It could secure a little treat,
Or, saved, add up to well-earned cash.
The penny drops

Today, and in its brusque defeat
I’m sensing something like a cheat;
A humble item, lacking flash,
Has gone, unthanked, like common trash:
Without the tiniest receipt,
The penny drops.