Loch Ness Monster, Stamped Long | Poetry

Poetry 1 Minute

Loch Ness Monster, stamped long

Across a once-round coin.

A penny,

Pressed into nothing,

Into something more than money.

What route to the heavy, glass-bound rollers?

Which grasping hands, dark pockets, upholstery crevices before

Arriving iron-smelling, earth-born, newly pressed again?

How many through my own fingers

From museums and galleries,

Raucous funfairs and till-chimed gift shops?

Lost, slipped behind dust-bound bookshelves

Or down churning gutters beneath rumbling, work-bound feet.

That fate perhaps,

But for now a clammy, toddler’s hand

An o-shaped mouth,

A treasure, gleaming gold.

*Thanks for reading, folks. Image courtesy of The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope. My recent short stories include ‘Cleanliness is Next…‘ and ‘We, the Dead‘.

Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0.

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Published by Matthew J. Richardson

Words in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Fiction Junkies, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, CafeLit, Best Microfiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, and Shooter.

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14 thoughts on “Loch Ness Monster, Stamped Long | Poetry”

  1. Wow, Matthew, this is beautifully written. The journey you’ve traced of the penny’s path through different hands and places reminds us of the many stories and lives it has witnessed. Your closing lines poignantly remind us of the subjective nature of value and wonder. This poem is the perfect reminder of the magic that lies in everyday objects.

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      3. I’m so glad you enjoyed it and obviously got so much out of it. I haven’t been to any writer workshops here (just north of Glasgow). I’ve done a fair few online and loved them. But I don’t think online comes close to the live experience and feedback you experienced.

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  2. Repurposed! I like it, Matthew. If we live long enough, there will be plenty of “circulation” stories. I like how the coin turned out to be more special and valuable, at least to someone, than it once was.

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  6. Is there a time constraint at the workshop, Matthew? I’m picturing a proctor supervising a roomful of students taking a test: “Pencils down on your imagination!” A lovely journey.

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