$365.14

each year you
sheepishly lug
a pail of coins
to the local
bank and shovel
them into the money
machine that sits
by the window.
people smile
at you as they walk
by. coins, they say?
I need to do that.
it's a noisy
process as you sort
through the peanuts
and paper clips,
the debris of pills
and scrapes of paper
that have to be
sorted out. you
are always amazed
at the final tally,
even after their
three per cent take,
printing off
the receipt to
give to the teller.
you are strangely
proud of your bucket
of coins
and feel as if
it's found money.
you want it in cash,
you tell them.
folding money.