Wrinkled History

Ever wonder where that old one dollar bill has been?

It was just an ordinary object

That old one dollar bill

Nothing important, really

After all, how much can be bought with a one dollar bill.

A few pieces of candy?

A soda?

A package of paper?

Maybe it could buy that piece of yarn

You tie your shoes with every day?

I know it won't pay the phone bill.

Certainly not the house note.

What's so great about an old one dollar bill

That can't be used for much more

Than the purchase of a few sweets?

 

That old one dollar bill

Crinkled and wrinkled with wear and tear

Creased precisely in several different places

From frequent foldings as it was shoved

Carelessly into your musty pocket.

Faded from too many washings and being left

Too long in the sunlight.

 

That old one dollar bill

The silent observer

Carelessly passed from hand to hand

Not of much value

Useless at best

Yet it's always watching through the threads

Of your back pocket

 

That old one dollar bill

The all-seeing eye

Watches silently as a young girl

Cries softly on her bed

While her parents scream defiance

Love lost beneath small trivials

Anger replacing happiness...

 

That old one dollar bill

Lay crumpled in the father's jacket

His sole companion as he saw

The eyes of his baby girl

Flutter for the very first time.

 

That old one dollar bill

Peace and war in the Eagle's claws

Speaking its motto

E Pluribus Unum---out of many ONE

So far from home, the young soldier presses

That old one dollar bill

Between his praying hands

Falling to his knees

While the world he knows explodes

A small symbol of hope

Of why he's fighting in the foreign fields.

 

An old one dollar bill

That's all it was

A symbol far beyond its worth

Viewing history not enscribed in textbooks

A spectator to life's normality

Of the wrinkled histories of young and old

After all, what's the value of the grand

Without the simple daily occurances

That gives this world its joy---

Things like that old one dollar bill

Simply worth little

Simply it's ALL.

Reviews

[Joseph - Michael]

I don't really have any suggestions for you, but I assure you that somebody else will. BUT, do not take their words for it, only to listen what they have to say, adapt the words, then write what you want to write as long as you're happy with.

As far as I can say is that I enjoyed how you used the bold font repeatly. That was really good. Also, I like how you write about a dollar bill that happened to be worth priceless...

[Bubo]

That old one dollar bill
Lay crumpled in the father's jacket
His sole companion as he saw
The eyes of his newborn
Flutter for the first time.

How is it writers see so much more than a one dollar bill, but what it means, how we see it, where it lives...........this is a great write.And now lost........i often wonder about a five pound note and whats happens in the millions of lives that it finds itself in..........weird, really powerful words.

[Emily B]

Beautifully said. Simply all.

[Pema Dorje]

the theme is well made and a plaint of loss in the little things, change as imaged in your Poem toward a lessor way ... here the sentiment is suggestive throughout your Poem ... you end with simple as the cry to what was lost -- simplicity -- perhaps that ought be your mode of care in this -- a simpler shorter piece may weld your vision into a rhapsody of blue! your eyes are wide open like a writers do ...

[Bear]

I think this is a FINE write!! Tweak if you desire but, I for one would leave it be. I love it!! A gathering of "lives actions" from the view of the dollar bill... very original!!

Reminded me of a "story" I penciled in grade school, perhaps 3rd or 4th grade... I was lifting the desk lid for pencil and paper trying to come up with a story to write and wrote the tale of Harry the pencil who was tired of being in the desk alone after the kids went home. What a hoot, the things one remembers from their past. ;~) A thought brought back while reading your "Wrinkled History". I probably have that tale stashed around here somewhere... if it's on paper, especially in my handwriting... it probably here somewhere. Thanks for the reminder of my past and if you decide to edit your work; go for it; it is yours afterall!! Bear

[Beth]

I might suggest that 'that old one dollar bill' be slightly rephrased in some the repeats in each stanza. Other than that, this was a very reflective piece at the life of a piece of money, which changes hands all the time, seeing the lives of so many people. I like how you've emphasized the fact that those things which seem to be so insignificant, really aren't... if we can only stop to think about it.

[AK]

This is perfect, I wouldn't change a word of it! Beautiful!