Jennifer Esrailian
Tiny Orange Coin Purse with a Single Penny Inside
I have a tiny orange coin purse with a single penny inside
that my mother gave me
for no special reason, she said
I think it was for luck but she wouldn’t say so
because she knows I don’t believe
in that type of thing
I’ve invested huge amounts of thought and time
into this tiny orange coin purse with a single penny inside
even imagined atrocious scenarios
horrible twists of fate where it mysteriously disappears
and my life is changed forever
So it does not move
because things that move can get lost
Instead it rests on my desk
in-between a red wooden apple
cut in half to hold mail
I know my mother never meant
for this tiny orange coin purse with a single penny inside
to be anything other than a cute gift
certainly not
any kind of object of obsessive-compulsive disorder
or extreme paranoia
or anything to latch onto and shift
and melt the tiny particulars of
down to bare bones, if it had them
I occasionally risk things
pick up this tiny orange coin purse with a single penny inside
and listen to the click of it opening and closing
making sure that it works
and that the penny hasn’t gone anywhere.
Page(s) 35-36
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