Something Old Something New

Public Domain Archives

Something Old, Something New

Something old—

my grandmother’s patience,

stitched into every hem she mended

and every mistake she called “practice.”

Something new—

my father’s smile today,

fresh as paint on a house he spent twenty years

building one paycheck at a time.

Something borrowed—

my mother’s courage.

I’ve been checking it out since birth,

renewing it whenever life’s due date arrived.

Something blue—

the tired shadows beneath their eyes,

earned honestly from late shifts, long drives,

and pretending not to worry.

And a sixpence in my shoe—

not luck. Luck’s a rumor.

This is bus fare, grocery money, overtime,

coupons clipped with surgical precision,

dreams deferred without filing a complaint.

The minister calls it a wedding.

I call it an invoice, finally paid.

Not by me—

by a family who spent years investing

in a future they might never see,

then showed up smiling for the dividend.

So here I stand,

rich in ways that never fit a bank account,

walking toward love

on the small change of their devotion.

---

Posted with those folks over at DVerse Poets Pub. They borrowed something blue, or something.

©2026 Christopher Reilley

I would love to know what you thought about this piece. 

Please consider leaving a comment.