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Linda Chase

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Dream Car

In the Oldsmobile of my dreams
I pick you up.

It is black and heavy as a tank,
though relieved by rusting chrome
which gleams in spite of itself.

It is more like a scoop
with an open mouth –
remember the oval lips
of a 49 Olds?

You are running down the street
afraid to look around when I beep the horn.

You keep on running down the next block
and loose me when I have to stop
for traffic and lights
and people crossing the road.

You keep to your side of the street
block after block. Nothing stops you
but your child’s heart, finally,
running out of breath.

My heavy door swings out
in front of you.

Panting and gasping,
you scramble in.

The leather seats amaze you.
The silver buttons catch your eye
and you push them down, first one
and then the other, to lock yourself in.

It happens so fast, that change.
The fear to get in
and the wish to stay inside.

 


Linda Chase’s recent pamphlet, Young Men Dancing, is available from Smith/Doorstop. Her collection These Goodbyes was published by Fatchance in 1995. In 1998 she travelled round the world writing poems for a new collection, Poems from the Oyster Diary, which is now seeking a publisher. She is currently doing a Masters Degree with Michael Schmidt at the Writing School of Manchester Metropolitan University.

 

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