The Penny

I gave a penny to a boy

Who spent it on a wooden toy.

The boy that he had bought it from

Had been saving for a plastic gun.

The toy seller kept a penny from this profit
Which rolled down a drain when I dropped it.

The penny was chipped but still intact

Until eaten by a hungry rat.

The rat it ran out onto the street

To be flattened by a passing jeep.

The rat rotted and was washed away

But the penny remained until one day

A passer by picked it up

Crying, "Ooh, now I have good luck!"

Forgetting he was in the street

And was flattened by another jeep.

The penny it rolled through the town

Into a river to drown.

Where it was eaten by a fish.

The fish was caught

And the fisherman thought

"What a lovely meal

This will be for us all."

His family of five

Ate the fish to find

The daughter with a sore tooth

And a penny in her mouth.

She said it was lucky

And put it on a shelf for all to see.

Years later she left

And her parents thought it best

To sell the house,

Move somewhere else

And sit out the rest.

Today I am excited

To move into the house I've always wanted.

As I peer round the door

There, on the floor,

A copper coin staring back at me,

A flash in my memory,

But oh no, I forgot it

And slip the penny into my pocket.