The Tale of Balki and Larry

As the sun shone golden bright
And gently woke the land,
A young man on a mountain stood,
His shepherd’s crook in hand.

He rose each morn to tend the flock
Before the daylight came.
His work was hard, the hours long,
And Balki was his name.

He loved his family and his home,
Yet deep inside he knew
He needed to do something more
And to his heart be true.

“Beloved Mypos, you have meant
The universe to me.
But now I feel the time has come
To sail across the sea.”

When he returned back to the farm,
Balki found a crowd.
His family-there to wish him well
And tell him they were proud.

They said goodbye as Balki climbed
Aboard a waiting cart.
As it set off along the road,
Excitement filled his heart.

In Chicago Illinois
A young man wished for more
Than working as a sales clerk
In the Ritz Discount store.

His name was Larry and his dreams
Were larger than the world.
Yet since he’d moved from Wisconsin
They hadn’t quite unfurled.

A photojournalist’s career
Was what his heart desired:
To have success; ‘til then his soul
In tedium was mired.

He had a job and friends, a home;
He knew that much was true.
Yet Larry’s life seemed incomplete,
But why, he scarcely knew.

One night he settled on the couch,
About to watch TV.
When at the door there was a knock,
Now just who could it be?

A young man dressed too sparse for cold
And carrying a pack.
Once Balki learned he’d found Larry,
There was no looking back!  

Balki launched into the tale,
How travels brought him ‘round.
The trip was long-it mattered not:
His cousin he had found!

From that night on the two men forged
A bond strong as a chain,
To stand the test of passing years,
Of hope and joy and pain.

Always there for each other,
Never torn apart,
Through everything from Larry’s colds
To Balki’s broken heart.

Through bibbibabkas blowing up,
Vacations gone awry,
Entrapment in a basement flood,
Igniting Gorpley’s tie.

From buying cars and hiding dogs-
That one was Balki’s ploy-
They always seemed to find a cause
To do the Dance of Joy!

Through stints in jail from harebrained schemes
When Larry “had a plan,”
To finding their true loves in life
In Jen and Mary Anne.

From getting married whence they bid
Farwell to bachelor pads,
To letting their true colors show
As caring, loving dads.

So speaks the tale of differing worlds
That never met before,
And perfect strangers, once, perhaps,
Now friends forevermore!

And now you can also listen to Cousin Crystal's wonderful ballad of this poem!
Just click the graphic below to play the song!