20150714 (adolescence)

1954 Ford two door V8 ps/pb auto This Crestline was the top line model.
Ours was a Customline mint green with less chrome but full dress hubcaps

Driving to the car hospital this morning

Checkbook open to the next check

I will go down on one knee 

Beg for mercy for the restoration 

Of my twelve year old air conditioning

Fixed a mere six months ago when

They replaced an accumulator/receiver/dryer 

And recharged the system

I won’t say what it cost some things

Are beyond price bugless beds

Aggressive air conditioning cured ham

Sound ladders gracious creative women

It’s somewhat like standing at a cliff

To repair an old car does one jump

Hoping not to be crushed on the rocks

Only to find a nearby ledge 

That will hold a while or step back

Enough dollars down this chute

Begin that wearying search

For another wagon comparably red and shiny

Parting with sweet Canary who has

Provided me with many miles of 

Happy cartage and blissfully few 

Heart-stopping swerves and failures

Gone forever is the desire for some

Low slung Porsche in dark blue

That literally screams I have bucks

But I can’t get it up beige four doors

Will do a little rust for negotiating

Nothing sporty needed simple to insure

Easily parkable maybe a gate

With fold-down seats a roof rack 

To carry an occasional 4 by 8

Of plywood or drywall

Back in ’54 my father should 

Have left my sixteen year old brother and me

At home when he shopped

To replace the postwar Plymouth

Sturdy blue four door that 

Served us so well but was tired and peeling

Rusty and sputtering too costly to fix

No nine-year old or teen is qualified 

To guide a car’s purchase 

Two-tones looked smashing

A V-8 meant power 

My brother who I was sure at the time 

Was thinking of dating and driving

And I cadged my dad into 

Selecting a two door Ford V-8

With power steering power brakes

Automatic in light mint green 

As close to chartreuse 

As they offered an ivory top

How he hated/loved it he got

Speeding tickets the first times ever

Marush he called mom you just touch

The pedal you’re off like a rocket

Folding seats forward 

To clamber inside proved a pain

This was the era when dealer ships sold

Expensive undercoating 

Which speeded the rusting

But the worst part was when they argued

And each threatened to jump out the door

Onto the highway with us kids

In the back my brother caught 

My mom’s door as it opened

He was pulled up from his seat

But he held it finally closed 

As my dad drove home

Maybe that’s why new cars have

The child safety lock to stop

A desperate mother from killing

Herself while her children watched

One happy family outing

c. J.S.Manista, 2015