The Medallion

by Edward Ahern

I’m not a superstitious man,
yet I’ve carefully kept this
close by me for decades.
A man in a curio shop
hidden in a Taipei alley
told me: “Bring good luck.”
All else was gesture,
but I paid two dollars
for a bronze medallion
of a god on rice sacks.
I’ve never seen its likeness
and don’t even know its name,
but health and comfort
have been my lot since and
until I’m beyond needing either
the medallion abides with me.