Receipt

First thing this morning I went to search
The car for the missing receipt.
I feel like I empty the car regularly,
But since I found receipts a year old,
Either I never quite finish what I start,
Or I don’t empty it as often as I think.

Without success, I systematically
Worked through boxes and bags in storage,
Not cleaning so much as rearranging.

Then my options were exhausted.

Talking to Phil, I reminded him
That I had paid for the dishwasher
After dropping him off at the airport.
In May? That didn’t make sense.
It must have been last November.

In a flash of inspiration, I realized that
Receipts from last year
Reside in a different folder.

And there, the last receipt was the one needed.

Thus, a faulty memory, and not
A faulty filing system, proved the problem.

But I have a cleaned up car!