Footnote to Coins

Remember learning to count
with the milkman
after his ‘collecting’
on a Thursday or Friday evening
knocking on the doors
wearing a denim money belt
rounding up payment for bottles
he had delivered
in the first hours of the day
and me perplexed by the numbers
spread out on the carpet
but enjoying it
waiting for the odd ones
foreign, out of date, damaged
ideal
for the collection