Skip to main content

Fast cars, Pt 4

I got my driver's licence
at Legoland
Image result for legoland driver's licence
driving a bumper car
made of oversized lego
Image result for legoland driver's licence
it was only good for a week
but I was free

later
there would be
the mandatory hill start
on a black iced street
Image result for uphill parallel park
and the parallel park
Image result for uphill parallel park
where you weren't necessarily
allowed to use
the what are bumpers for excuse
and driving downtown
with one ways
and bus lanes
and all manner of hell
and I was free that time too

but driver's ed
left its mark
you see my instructor used to drive
one of those London double deckers
with a self-changing gear box
made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company
BSA for short
which my instructor told me was short
for Bloody Sore Ass
he told me of his proficiency
in shifting gears
knowing by the sound of the engine
when to step it up
and when I practised
racing shifts
accidentally
without the cluth
in a Toyota Hilux
Related image
stressing the engine's capacity
or power
or torque
I wasn't sure it was wise
to shift
without engaging the clutch
stalling out at high speed
was a thrill
but the grinding took its toll
and away went freedom
and with it the Hilux

later I tried a Corvette Stingray
Image result for vintage corvette stingray
with the rag top
the car that can corner on a dime
Image result for silver dimes
and give you a nickel back
Image result for silver nickel
something to do
with the wide wheel base
Related image
like a bow legged cowboy
Image result for bow legged cowboy
or a bandy legged test jet pilot
Image result for bandy legged
but you didn't worry
even if the side pipes
burned your calves
Image result for girl's calves in leggings
and luckily for me
being free didn't wind me
into a ditch
nobody gets licensed for that
or for legos either
Related image
as a matter of fact.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Animals and aliens

When you think of Orwell's Animal Farm , you get stuck on the idea of some being more equal than others.  But world peace, galactic harmony, the celebration of diversity and the active practice of inclusion are all achieved in science fiction by casting minorities in the role of animals and aliens.  Star Trek comes to mind in this regard, where even hippies were disposed of, Federation style, as sensitive dissenting aliens, not forgetting Spock with his pointy ears!  And then there were Wookiees, still man's best friend. Viewing animals as humans--anthropomorphizing--or treating different races as aliens, all of this is shape shifting.  This shape is my shade, there where I used to stand--that's Steely Dan.
Post a Comment
Read more

Of course she's not a true red

As the parent of a "ginger", and having red heads on both sides of the family, and having married into two Irish families, I know first hand that ginger covers the whole spectrum from strawberry blonde (to my way of thinking a classic ginger!), to orange (carrot tops), to a real rust red (what my father in law would call a true red).  When Pat Todkill first set eyes on his granddaughter, he remarked, "Of course, she's not a true red".  For one thing, Emily the Elder lacked freckles on her face and upper body.  For another, she really was and is a strawberry blonde. A further observation.  Even people with the raven blackest hair have rust red lights--caveman red, soot covered ochre if you like.  Woolly mammoth red.  Sometimes it takes just the right light to pick out the smoldering ember, but beard and eyebrows tend to incorporate the tell tale ginger strain, like chili pepper in a spice jar of mixed pepper corns. And, of course, brunette...
Post a Comment
Read more

Things always end in the Summer

In the middle of the second major heatwave of the season, the City cut the wildflowers along the footpath.  I mean they cut everything 30 inches on either side of the pavement, but since the flowers were my friends, all I saw was that they cut the flowers, even though they actually mowed indiscriminately.  And it must have been a chore for the labourer in this heat, so his feet were heavy when he made hay of the prettiest parts of the Summer.  But I can't get to that right now; I'm still reeling from the loss of chicory, and the other pinks and yellows and blues whose names I was just beginning to learn. "Program, get your program", I heard the barker call on my way to the bleachers.  I turned once and caught his eye, and looked at the program in his hand and back into his eyes--all the while his eyes following mine--but then he looked back to his hand, and again into my eyes and he said "You can't tell the player without a card"! Did it matter that ...
Post a Comment
Read more