What Matters

A collection of elephants
(except for a special few)
a scattering of coffee mugs
(including a special few)
stacks of books telling my life
in incongruous proximity,
parades of strangers,
choosing their new possessions
and kind words – with exact change! —
stacks of bills changing amount
from one counting to the next
knowing it’s not the money
that matters nor the things
sold or bought, but the living of life
with those things
and around those people
pleasantly, peacefully, abstinently.