Copper Memory

A penny shines on cracked concrete,

face up beside a leaf’s retreat.

Cold metal pressed into my palm,

a tiny weight, a vanished calm.

I bend, fingers brush the dirt,

and feel the shift of luck’s old hurt.

A small coin, forgotten and slight,

holding all my fading fight.

Sidewalk’s song beneath my feet,

a silent echo, incomplete.

The penny glints—a bright, small scar—

a moment lost but held too far.