his name was peter

yesterday i found a wallet

at first all i could think about was the reward

that someone would later thank me

for picking up the cards which had been scattered all over the road

i found a man around the corner

in a house divided down the middle

with a green fence

and no doorbell

he said his name was peter

the tattered old wallet belonged to a peter

a peter who had been broken

and then stuck back together

probably with sticky tape

he held the wallet tenderly in his hands

checking that nothing was missing

i had already searched it's contents

his contents

their contents

and found three hundred dollars, a train map and some photos

the goody kind with starry borders

and love hearts

he said he had a tough day

and his mind was all fuzzy

his eyes wandered

but i knew that he was grateful

he roughly pulled a fifty dollar bill

from the wallet i had found

but his wife shook her head

and gave me a twenty

i did not want it

but

i

took it

and they smiled

the next day peter came around the corner

to my house

i was not home

but he left some flowers

the kind which open into beautiful blooms

with little speckles

no doubt from the sun

and a card

which said "Thank you Abbie"

i did not care that my name was not abbie

because it did not matter

by Gaby