bread money

my grandmother
used to hide
her money,
small bills
mostly,
in coffee cans,
in the sleeves
of old coats
and oven mittens,
a pulled up
floor board in
the basement.
a vent in
the ceiling.
she never believed
in banks,
in stocks and
bonds, any cash
she had, which
wasn't much
was folded
neatly into
squares and tucked
away for a rainy
day that never
came. she swore
she'd never go
hungry again.
and after
she died of old
age weighing
seventy pounds,
we're still
finding it.