I was awake at 3:30 when the alarm, as all will,
        went off on my phone.
        I will drive to Glasgow to meet my friend.

        Tony will drive us to Spring Hill,
        Tennessee where we have gone
        like horse traders to end

        a search for vehicles to sell
        on Tony’s lot in Glasgow.
        We lack the knowledge that old time

        traders had, able to tell
        age by an animal’s teeth. I know
        not how that works, but I know rhyme

        and how words go on a line.
        Tony knows cars,
        knows to look under the hood.

        He avoids rust, and black oil, knows the fine
        things to check, and the history of cars
        that every buyer should.

        We test drive the ones that meet
        his requirements, but the shrewed sellers
        are masters of deception, always. Still we go.