The Money Tree
by Tim Carpenter


It will take more than one
to end poverty,

I think to myself,
giving the penny in my palm
one last look
before I drop it into the hole
I've dug in the ground.

If you were here,
you'd probably think I look
ridiculously like a squirrel
burying an acorn,
but if you knew the possibilities,
you’d be on your hands
and knees beside me,
helping me cover the hole.

And now I'm imagining
how desperate you’re going to look
when you rest your forehead
on the patchwork of dirt
inches above the buried coin,
a seed of wealth,

praying that it grow.
Praying.






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