A Drive in the Country

there i was
tooling along
on country lanes
past farmers' fields
when sudden espied
mr ali baba
of forty thief fame,
(long since retired)
puttering about
in his sesame garden.

i stopped the car
and disembarked
and said to him
"oh mr baba,
i like your style,
your joie de vivre,
your pluck, your verve,
i always wanted
to be like you,
vanquish thieves,
amass treasures,
win fair damsels,
etc. etc."

he looked at me
and scratched his beard
and rolled his eyes
and turned three somersaults
and ran around
behind the chicken coop.

"oh well" said i,
and got in the car,
and drove off thinking
that the man was not ali
but rather some other baba.

(i think perhaps
it was xavier baba,
the legendary pedant
who spoke seven languages,
usually all at the same time.)*

[*Hat tip to 'gerund'.]