A Forgotten Friend

• Isabella Cancino, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2021

Do you remember me?
When you were a young child, you received me as a gift on your special day.
My four stubby legs settled on the shelf which was now my new home.
My round painted ceramic body was always there for you.
A thin slot atop my back ready for your deposit.
Every time you earned a coin or two, you came straight to me.
The way your face beamed when you rattled me and heard the jingling of gold and silver.
Your cute sticky fingers struggled to remove my plug when my stomach was full.
I would sit patiently beside you when you would count your coins.
You dropped me unintentionally and wouldn’t stop crying until I was glued together, that was what meant the most to me.
But then you began to grow.
You had replaced me with a savings account, which could hold a lot more coins than me.
You were too busy to jingle your gold and silver and the coins inside me gradually decreased.
Your bedroom had given me a robe of dust to wear to reward me for how long I had stood still.
I have been waiting for years for you to come back and use me again.
Do you remember me?