Beckoning

Wander the streets of a place unfamiliar
Looking for somewhere to eat.
Deal with exhaustion, the heat and the crowds
Which make disorientation complete.

Suddenly someone's materialized,
Like a genie right out of Aladdin,
Inviting you in...the best seat in the house!
And your out-of-sorts mood starts to gladden.

He asks where you're from and you tell him New York;
He knows that he's reeled in a live one.
You start to talk films and his heroes are such
That you realize this guy is a jive one.

Yet he's charming and sweet and adept at his craft
As you notice him casting his net;
And the restaurant surely must be well aware
That the crowd's left them so in his debt.

It's really a skill to be friendly and warm
And quite cunning and slick all the same;
But our dinner was lovely and so, after all,
He deserves only credit, not blame.