Carl Newlen

To Flatten A Penny

- July 10, 2009, 3:03 pm | Poetry

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Skipping school at thirteen
I`d walk between the tracks
and the Ohio looking for a place
to flatten pennies.
If the ones I used were tarnished
they`d flatten shiny
like copper belt buckles.
Some never flattened completely,
the date or "Liberty" still thick,
untouched. These were the best ones,
incomplete, like sinning.

I hear that the weight of one axle
is enough to flatten a penny.
I don`t like to believe that.
When you`re out there
on the tracks by the river,
and a train rolls
out thunder louder
than anything
you`ve ever heard,
pushing the wind,
pulling you close,
shaking the earth
with its weight
and power...
you have to believe
it takes all of this
or it`s not worth the effort.

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