exchanging scripts

Greetings and salutations Ladies and Gentlemen! Come one and come ball

Please make your way into our beautifully, overly, underlit dancehall,

I’ll begin with a long-winded speech, most of which you already know

Crystal glasses chipping together as the cigar and -ette smoke begins to billow.

Knickknacks weighing down the ladies, decorated ears, wrists, and collars

Gents sizing each other up, gold watches, beards, malarkey talk, and dollars

It’s on! To see who stands taller, more confident with chests all bumped out

with their cohorts gathering intel on the enemy, for their corner to gossip about.

Choice poison keeps the chatter going, the smiles a bit less labored and hollow

info, accustomedly exchanged, with false plans of fabulous gatherings to follow,

sensing the energy decaying, yawns more consistent, last slow song now nearing

awkwardly existing are the few stragglers, as the tables and parking lots are clearing.

A quick recap of our recollection, quizzing our opponents of how it was remembered

proofreading our unwritten novel, each chapter edited and validated before entered,

final handshakes and phony double-cheek-no-contact-kisses, “so nice to see you too”

“wishing best of luck”, “drive safe”, “see you around” until then “I bid you a fond adieu”

Our next contest will be at another milestone, a wedding, or inevitably an entombment

I will start working now to freshen up my life story so that it doesn’t start to ferment,

Now hiring! A production assistant, a drama specialist, and a writer/narrative designer

We will compare notes at our next encounter and see who’s script appears much finer.