Fear Death by Prince

April is the cruelest month, bringing

            Whipping sounds of tripping brooks,

            Mixing memories with desire,

            And empty melodies of years gone past float

            Down my falling tower to the ground below which is

            Destroyed by dew.

            These hyacinths are dead--

            The sunlight under this red canopy

            (Can you see past this red canopy?)

            Shields my hollow eyes from the sky outside

            But across my shuttered eyelids

Sleep casts in front of me this heap

Of shattered lives.

           

Father Caligula with his one eye

Fixed upon his shuffling feet,

Is king in the valley of the blind.

And I stay here

Locked above them all here

Cassandra—Fortune binds my limbs and eyes—

The wisest woman in all of Camelot,

With a wicked pack of cards.

I have seen Helen with her Prince and his charming

Coat which stands blue against

The black black sky.

Dancing around around around

            Tra la la la la la la

“How wonderful they are!”

Why does he limp as he turns?

 “How beautiful they are!”

Why is her dress so sheer and torn?

             

The brook beside my tower is poisoned

With broken jagged rocks and sparkling water.

                                    A current took my child under there

            Down and up

            Part and whole

            She passed through the stages of lightness and dark

            And her garments, heavy with their drink,

Pull’d her from her melodious lay to muddy death.

            The grass sings in the faint moonlight

            Over the hills rides my prince

            At my back, in the cold blast I hear

            The ringing of bells and a white veil spread from ear to ear.

            Et O ces voix d’enfants, chantant dans la couple!

            This is the third that walks beside me,

            This is the third that hangs around me.  

What shall I do now? What shall I do?

I shall brush my hair

As it falls out clean,

Lie in bed,

“Do I wake or sleep?”  

Dead and alive

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb”

Unreal girl.

Unreal life

“All that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect of her eyes”

            WAKE UP HE IS HERE.

“One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace”

            WAKE UP HE IS HERE.

Oh please do not I come burning

Burning burning burning burning

All that’s best!

Please no no

Of dark and bright!

Please please no--

Auctaque forma fugā est.

Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night

Death to Pennies

Thesis: Although many Americans seem entrenched in the fool hearted wish to keep pennies in circulation, the coin's uselessness in and furthermore, damage on, the American economy should be evidence enough to expose the crux of this debate; certain politicians' inability to accept logical change, and the American government's failure to entertain any progressive, necessary reform. 

Waste of Individual’s Time/“Practically Useless” 

 Make point that penny doesn't serve its one and only purpose; to function efficiently as currency. 

--“The point of currency is to facilitate transactions…For me, it’s the waste of time I object to.” Source B (Kahn)

 --“It’s practically useless in everyday life.” Source A (Lewis)

--“That’s because you can’t buy anything with a penny anymore.” Source C (Safire)

Actually, Worse than Useless; Drain on Economy

Doesn't stimulate the economy through circulation; takes up valuable time of govt. workers ("opportunity cost"); continuous loss of individuals' wealth contributes to overall loss in national economy 

--“Two thirds (of pennies) immediately drop out of circulation” Source C (Safire)

--Pennies have to be dealt with “by government workers who could be more usefully employed tracking counterfeiters” Source C (Safire)

--“They cost more in employee-hours” Source C (Safire)

--“each person is loosing $60 per year, at a cost to the nation of over $15 billion per year…” Source B (Kahn)

Directly Addressing Pro-Penny Arguments

--“The EU also sought to avoid the systematic rounding of prices” Source D (Weller) 

Why wouldn't you want to round up prices? It would be more efficient and less confusing, and it costs a cent rather than a continuous drain on the economy (aka pennies). 

--“The fact is the penny remains popular with the public and important to our pricing system.” Source D (Weller)

If the best argument for a economic policy is that it's popular/it's vaguely "important", surely its purpose needs evaluation. 

--“The penny is perhaps the most visible and tangible reminder of Lincoln’s significance in American history.” Source F (Press Release)

The argument that a piece of currency's primary purpose is to serve as a "tangible reminder" of our history is economically insane and shows a lack of dedication to the study of history...and is just absurd.