Like all discontinued currency in the Canadian monetary
system, the penny remains legal tender. ~ Wikipedia
I own a Canadian penny with a deep and burnished shine.
It hasn’t any worth, it seems, except that it is mine.
Canada discontinued the poor penny as a coin
deeming it less than useless, like a gargoyle or a quoin
(and if you didn’t look that up you’re just as old as I,
and doubtless have a fondness for the things of days gone by).
On one side is the Maple Leaf, the other sports the Queen,
and both show signs of autumn if you cipher what I mean.
Stores charge an even number, like the bun without the crumb,
and round all cash transactions to the nearest nickel sum,
and if you try to pay with pence they view you as a bum,
and raise a brow distastefully – a gesture snide, if dumb.
And what will befall the nickel, and the elegant silver dime
when they are deemed outmoded in a not-too-distant time?
