The Real Treasure That I Found

My umber shoes clicked against the pavement,

As I stepped out from the darkened alley,

And turned onto the undeviating, cement pathway.

I could hear my golden watch playing its rhythmic song.

Tick Tick Tick Tick

Tick Tick Tick Tick

The dull, gray fog slithered into the town,

And made it hard to see,

But somehow my eyes spotted something small and delicate

Lined against the moldered sidewalk.

Suddenly, I stopped,

And glanced down at the emerald colored piece of paper.

It was resting on the ground: quivering in the wind.

My heart skipped a beat.

Faster now,

I could hear it playing that rhythmic song

Bom-Bom, Bom-Bom

Bom-Bom, Bom-Bom

A smile stretched across my face.

What luck have I found on this lonely walk!

Where fortune seems to have fallen on me from heaven.

I bent down carefully, and picked the bank note from the ground.

Gently, I cradled it in my hand, like a precious stone.

A twinkle lit my eye, as I saw the number

Resting on the soft, wrinkled corners of the paper.

Five dollars isn’t bad at all!

I clutched it tightly to myself,

But then, slowly, I softened my grip.

My greedy mind wandered slowly to a different story than my own.

I could see men and women sitting there,

Packed together in swarms, covering the sidewalk.

Each one with his head tilted back,

Resting on the cold, wet wall behind him.

They had nothing—nothing but each other.

The haunting specter branded itself inside my mind.

It was the epiphany of destitution,

And there was nothing I could do—

Or was there?

Is there something I can do?

Slowly, I bent down,

And set the paper back onto the sidewalk

For someone who needed it more than me.

Burning in my soul

Was the hope that someone who needed it,

Would find the gift I had given them,

That was never even mine.

That day I found out

That generosity is one of the greatest treasures!

And so I walked away, more lively than before.

My strides were quicker, which reflected my joy.

I felt my deeds were even riper than those juicy bundles of grapes.

The ones I used to buy, five dollars for a bag.