Things depart and something else is left behind, a trace, a memory of both its absence and also what its presence had meant.

In the case of the fast-fading penny, relationships both personal and collectively shared come to mind; loafers that will no longer be adorned by them; drugstore candy that can no longer be bought with one; purposeful and helpful jars that used to be full of them until cashed in for a few crisp bills. Like one’s omniscient little pal, a progressively ignored member of our national currency family, cute and charming yet no one’s fool… it was always there for us, jangling the bottom of our pockets, clogging up the fountains, cluttering up our cash registers, ever engaged in widely inventive modes of exchange. Take a penny, leave a  penny. We are on the cusp of a new age.... Penniless.