Many years after leaving London
I return to the city
it is still dreaming of better days.
I am burdened with landscaped memories,
recordings taken with out-of-date electronics;
one is a Betamax video player,
the other by a VHS machine, next a DVD
that has no space for recollections.
An elderly Vauxhall Astra follows me
like an ever faithful dog.
The metropolis
is built on the brick-dust of era’s,
The young look dazed,
as if worm-holes in the River Thames
had closed
leaving them stranded here.
I imagine that nightly,
an older populace hang upside-down
from bell-tower rafters
to dream of Imperial Lions.
I have recorded the trip
on that clunky Betamax;
only I have the arcane skills
to operate it.
Back in Ohio
I store London in its original box,
then make my way downstairs
to photograph my wife
with a once brand new
polaroid camera.
Categories:
vauxhall, poetry,
Form: Free verse
Having been married the year before
Christine and I drove a Vauxhall Chevette
but it was now past its best years
so decided on buying new to collect
Our choice was a Vauxhall Nova
lovely blue colour with a good boot
comfortable seating too, a real catch
looking forward to tasting real fruit
The deal included midnight pick up
real razzmatazz ribbons and all
so strange to drive a new car home
in the dark for first time, what a call!
Many a nice holiday we spent
with our Nova throughout the UK
it could have driven many itself
the English lakes it knew its way
Never again had the experience
of that midnight drive away
all future buys were in daytime
that memory will always stay
(This is written remembering our first brand new car after getting married, it was quite an experience collecting it at midnight.)
Categories:
vauxhall, car, life, night,
Form: Rhyme
Zoo Drop
Terracotta robots zapping rodents.
Ongoing Zagreb building projects.
Witches, milk floats and Vauxhall cars in Bill's head.
You got Tonsillitis from licking prostitutes’ rancid toes.
Towel used for a century; six frayed threads on its length.
Novel bus design; the driver drives from upstairs.
You drink Earl Grey tea, cold.
I so damn hate slow tardy days dragging till I get my dole for a new tattoo.
Signed on Fri, a 3 day wait till pay day.
It may not be paid right.
Twits!
Nebulous screwdrivers in the sky.
Take me away from the clouds to a desert landscape.
Tattoo my earlobe you minky moo.
Categories:
vauxhall, fantasy, funny, nonsense, silly,
Form: Verse
You came into my life one cold March day
My life changed completely in every way
Mesmerised by your beautiful blue eyes
We were inseparable and time just flies
Having travelled together near and far
Singing top chart songs in my Vauxhall car
Plenty of loving cuddles we have shared
Laughs and silly pranks, so perfectly paired
Each meal I made was a special delight
Watching TV on a takeaway night
Then time came when we had to separate
How hard that was, though I knew it was fate
Though we have accepted how life can change
Different pursuits, a wide varied range
I never forget, especially birthdays
For you changed my life in so many ways
From first time I beheld your perfect frame
Held you close and chose your Christian name
My darling son I felt first breath of love
Life given to you from Heaven above.
Categories:
vauxhall, life, love, relationship,
Form: Rhyme
The Morris Minor Man.
He was the Morris Minor Man
from down in Burton Joyce
I went with him to buy one
a green one was his choice
he could have had a Vauxhall
he could have had a Ford
but not the Morris Minor Man
from down in Burton Joyce.
He started with a Land Rover
and had a Scimitar too
he even had a Skoda
and went to number two!
I used to pull his leg for that
and he didn’t seem to mind
but when the Morris Minor came
that really was a find.
He was the Morris Minor Man
from down in Burton Joyce
he went and bought another one
to accompany the first
he could have brought home anything
but nothing else would do
that’s why the Morris Minor Man
went after number two.
He worked on them so carefully
as he chased round after parts
and when he was successful
it cheered his family’s hearts
for when they got to know those cars
they loved them, I could tell
could it be they had become
Minor fans as well!
Categories:
vauxhall, loss
Form: Rhyme
Rupert Lang set out from London,
it was ten minutes to eight.
He meant to travel to the Midlands
to be with his dad in hospital
in Birmingham. Weather forecast:
chance of rain.
Peter Smith drove down from Penrith,
he was traveling to Dover
to take the channel tunnel to spend
the next two weeks vacationing
with his family in France.
On a section of the M1 south of Birmingham
a Vauxhall Vega, its driver asleep at the wheel,
jumped the grassy median into the north-bound lanes
and crashed headlong into a Ford Cortina.
An unclaimed hotel reservation
and the latest Playboy magazine
fluttered to rest, side by side,
on the shoulder close to exit 31.
Categories:
vauxhall, death
Form: Verse
Robert Lang set out from London,
it was ten minutes to eight.
He meant to travel to the Midlands
to be with his dad in hospital
in Birmingham. Weather forecast:
chance of rain.
Peter Smith drove down from Penrith,
he was traveling to Dover
to take the channel tunnel to spend
the next two weeks vacationing
with his family in France.
On a section of the M1 south of Birmingham
a Vauxhall Vega, its driver asleep at the wheel,
jumped the grassy median into the north-bound lanes
and crashed headlong into a Ford Cortina.
An unclaimed hotel reservation
and the latest Playboy magazine
fluttered to rest, side by side,
on the shoulder next to exit 31.
Categories:
vauxhall, loss
Form: Verse
Rupert Lang set out from London,
it was ten minutes to eight.
He meant to travel to the Midlands
to be with his dad in hospital
in Birmingham. Weather forecast:
chance of rain.
Peter Smith drove down from Penrith,
he was traveling to Dover
to take the channel tunnel to spend
the next two weeks vacationing
with his family in France.
On a section of the M1 south of Birmingham
a Vauxhall Vega, its driver asleep at the wheel,
jumped the grassy median into the north-bound lanes
and crashed headlong into a Ford Cortina.
An unclaimed hotel reservation
and the latest Playboy magazine
fluttered to rest, side by side,
on the shoulder close to exit 31.
Categories:
vauxhall, loss,
Form: Narrative