No poems tailed me back from my morning walk today but a rambling sort of script that I sense is more likely to be a piece of flash fiction and will require a few drafts and a few days to sort itself. So in the meantime I am reposting and perhaps editing some earlier poems.
Anyone with kids will identify with this one.
The Rear View Mirror
(for Eoin)Eyes would meet in the rear view mirror.
He, strapped in his child seat,
Wearing his teenage mutant hero turtle costume
Leonardo or Donatello or Michelangelo
You can't remember which.
And he'd ask, "How far is it?"
And you'd pretend to know;
"Just around the bend or nearly there."
And years later, still back-seated
But wearing that teenage boy long lost look
Staring out the window at his dreams
Whizzing by and no longer asking,
Knowing your bends were hairpin,
And treble at that.
And now empty grey upholstered seats
And no queries about destination
Or time or speed or direction;
Just him up the road ahead of you
Waiting for you to catch up.
Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2016
He, strapped in his child seat,
Wearing his teenage mutant hero turtle costume
Leonardo or Donatello or Michelangelo
You can't remember which.
And he'd ask, "How far is it?"
And you'd pretend to know;
"Just around the bend or nearly there."
And years later, still back-seated
But wearing that teenage boy long lost look
Staring out the window at his dreams
Whizzing by and no longer asking,
Knowing your bends were hairpin,
And treble at that.
And now empty grey upholstered seats
And no queries about destination
Or time or speed or direction;
Just him up the road ahead of you
Waiting for you to catch up.
Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2016
So nostalgic. It reminds me of Timber, and how excited he was as a puppy in the car, particularly when we were going to Killiney beach.
ReplyDeleteAnd Molly too, come to think of it...
ReplyDelete