Little Things Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

It's not the keys to a free Cadillac.
Or an expensive wardrobe presented,
To one stunned to realize...
They have been treated with gifts,
Without a bill to pay...
Demanding a cent to cover the taxes.

It's,
The little things that make...
One's sentiments more appreciated.
It's those little things given,
With a doing that surprises...
Coming to be done from the heart.
Take those little things away,
To disregard them as important.
And what remains to linger on,
Is what someone has failed to do...
Years long gone.
Not to remember...
A cap on a tube of toothpaste removed,
And not replaced...
Started an argument in 1992.

Statistics have proven,
It is the little things people choose...
To use to evaluate their relationships.

The closer people are,
It's always the little things that leave...
More meaning.
The closer people are,
Those little things bring back...
Unforgotten memories.
Little things mean more than not,
Than what one has of value.
Like bonds and stocks to brag about.

It's not the keys to a free Cadillac.
Or an expensive wardrobe presented,
To one stunned to realize...
They have been treated with gifts,
Without a bill to pay...
Demanding a cent to cover the taxes.
It's the little things revisited,
That seem to always bring the tears.

'Baby?
What's the matter?
The Cadillac ran out of gas? '

~No.
I found that dime you only had.
And gave to me to say...
It was your last.
And I laughed.
Until I realized you had passed me the check,
In that restaurant where we washed the dishes.~

'Is that why the State Troopers,
Pulled you over to then call me? '

~They tried to calm me down,
When I told them...
You purposely left the cap,
Off the toothpaste.~

*I hate to break up this bonding time,
On my time you two are wasting.
But, sir...
Do you have any proof at all,
That the both of you are not crazed?
And this...person,
Is related to you.
We pulled her over to the side of the road,
Crying her eyes out and babbling...
About finding a dime to find it's 'now' toothpaste.*

'I'm sorry.
But none of this would have started,
If I had not brought home the Cadillac.
And that car I'm driving,
I've had since 1992.'

*I'll tell you what...
I'm only going to say this,
And hopefully never again to anyone.
The World is suffering from an economic crisis.
And here you two are,
Talking about dimes and caps left off toothpaste.
And...a gift of a Cadillac.
I'll leave you with that.
Have a great day.*