Note: I wrote this for a contest, earned a seat in the next round.
Then I slid on the porch, broke my wrist on the ground.
Had to give up on my dream with some luck just this once.
Oh well, yes, you’re right, I was such a dunce.

It rained cats and dogs on the penthouse that night.
Thunder growled, lightning yowled; it was a terrible fight.
A man named John Smith, in a tux and a tie,
Awaited a call from a business ally.
The deal of a lifetime hinged on that call.
So he waited and worried as he leaned on the wall.

When his phone rang, he looked at the caller ID.
It wasn’t the name he expected to see.
“You’re a hard man to find,” said a voice with a drawl.
His best friend from childhood whose dad had named Saul.
“You did college, built a business, displayed quite a knack,
“For creative flair, yeah, and for staying on track.”

John smiled as his insides began to unwind,
And he realized his friend had been much on his mind.
John laughed, “Remember when we trudged three miles to that jetty?”
Saul answered, “And found it all battered like a plate of spaghetti?”
“What about that day when we fixed your old bike?”
“Yeah, then searched for six months ‘til we found one you liked.”

The back-and-forth banter came easy and fast.
The missed years slid away like a thing of the past.
“Remember the day I found my old Harley?”
“Yeah, I remember you got took by that crook, Charlie.”
“But after we found him, you got your first car.”
“It didn’t run.” “It was free.” “Okay, that was bizarre,

and I stared at that heap for one month or more.
You showed up one day, broke it down to its core,
then rebuilt it swiftly.” “Phooey, rocket science it’s not,
with the manual and the tools…” “…and the brain that you’ve got.”
“Oh stop, please, you helped, and your car turned out great.
The first time you drove it, you took Simone on a date.”

“Ah, Simone,” Saul crooned, “she was one lovely girl.
You remember her cousin, from Hawaii, named Pearl?”
“She’s etched on my mind, from the drive-in that night.
You were busy when we left at the break for a Sprite.”
“Yes, I was, that Simone, but you never did tell
how Pearl came to hate you and what was that smell?”

“Well, near the Snack Shack our pal, Waldo, appeared.
He smiled and he shouted, ‘Are you really here?’
Oh, I knew, in an instant, we should turn tail and run.
But, he shouted again, ‘Are you kids having fun?’
He ambled right to her and I laughed, I confess.
Waldo smiled sweetly – burped – and barfed on her dress.”

Saul’s laughter exploded from the opposite coast
“I can totally tell you I have now been outgrossed,
I thought I had tales of the excesses of beer.
But you, my friend? I applaud you from here.”
In companionable silence, the two buddies just sat.
Saul in his beach house and John, content, in his flat.

Saul’s voice broke the silence, “Well, I really must go,
you’re expecting a call.” “Wait, how did you know?”
“I ran into your mom at the store buying honey.”
“The repairs to her Bugatti will cost you some money.”
“Ha, ha, hey, it sounds like your call’s coming in.
All the best, break a leg, hit it home for the win.”