Pennies From Heaven, song performed by Billie Holiday

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN
Song by Johnny Burke & Arthur Johnston (1936)

Oh every time it rains

It rains pennies from heaven

Don’t you know each cloud contains

Pennies from heaven

You’ll find your fortune

Fallin’ all over town

Be sure that your umbrella is upside down

Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers

It you want the things you love

You must have showers

So when you hear it thunder

Don’t run under a tree

There’ll be pennies from heaven

For you and me

…“Pennies from Heaven” was one of jazz-great Billie Holiday‘s signature songs. Listen to Lady Day (1915-1959) sing the tune at youtube.com.

Illustration: Portrait of Billie Holiday by Derrick “Vito” Hollowell. Prints available at etsy.com.

Smart, poem by Shel Silverstein

SMART
by Shel Silverstein

My dad gave me one dollar bill

‘Cause I’m his smartest son,

And I swapped it for two shiny quarters

‘Cause two is more than one!
 
And then I took the quarters

And traded them to Lou

For three dimes — I guess he didn’t know

That three is more than two!
 
Just then, along came old blind Bates

And just ’cause he can’t see

He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,

And four is more than three!
 
And then I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs

Down at the seed-feed store,

And the fool gave me five pennies for them,

And five is more than four!
 
And then I went and showed my dad,

And he got red in the cheeks

And closed his eyes and shook his head –

Too proud of me to speak!

Finding a Dime, Poem by JIm Harrison and Ted Kooser

FINDING A DIME
by Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser

Sometimes all it takes
to be happy
is a dime on the sidewalk.

…Find more poetry by Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser in BRAIDED CREEK: A Conversation in Poetry, available at Amazon.com.

Photo: “Dime on ground” by Kiddharma