Once when the world was new,
too pristine for coin, nothing minted,
people gathered shells, stones,
bartered for necessities.
Flash forward to yesterday,
millions of years later.
We have money now,
love of it the root of all evil.
A little girl found a blue rock.
She thought it was pretty.
She rolled it around in her hand,
pretended it was a jewel,
a truly valuable jewel.
Came the sound of an ice cream truck.
Ding a ling, bring your money
and buy your joy.
The little girl proffered the blue rock.
She had no money.
The owner smiled down.
He became a small boy in his heart.
She wanted a cone.
He gave her a sundae.
She gave him the blue rock.
He offered it back.
Originally published Lothlorien Journal