Volkswagen

RUBY TUESDAY
http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com

VOLKSWAGEN

I learned to drive in this little car,

(Well, not this one precisely,

But as  something similar to my car

It will do very nicely.)

My 'Beetle' was red and the year is right,

Somewhere about 1950.

I had bought it second-hand

Because I was feeling thrifty.

I was living in Bulawayo then,

The Rhodesian roads were wide,

And as I drove in my little car

I felt a sense of pride.

It wasn't an easy car to drive;

One had to double-de-clutch!

But I was young and adventurous

So that didn't worry me much.

The drive across to Salisbury,

(Now Harare, by the way),

Was really long and lonely;

It seemed to take all day.

The roads weren't fully paved back then;

There were 'strips' on which to travel,

And one could skid from side to side

And end up in the gravel.

I had no music for company

So I sang out loud and long,

And looking at this Volkswagen now

Still fills my heart with song.

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TANGERINE TOOTSIES

Simplicity itself; some paper and some drops.

But now imagination starts and the purely factual stops!

By accident or by design? By some neat manipulation?

Or just a clever artist summing-up a situation?

Did an eye-dropper do the deed, particle by particle?

How have we come by perfection in this, the finished article?

Maybe there was never moisture and we are being fooled

By an artist who in 'trompe l'oeil' is very surely schooled!

'Trompe l'oeil' means 'trick the eye' , a special branch of art;

In which photographic reality plays an important part.

Sometimes banknotes are painted on the floors of public places

And when someone tries to pick them up we see such startled faces!

Until we touch such artwork we don't know false from true.
Painting things like this must be a pleasant thing to do.
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