My First Car

WEEKEND IN BLACK AND WHITE
http://blackandwhiteweekend.blogspot.com.au 


MY FIRST CAR

I don't remember cars;

They don't loom large for me.

I think of them as objects

That get me from A to B.

With the exception of this one!

The first one that was mine!

It was a Beetle, coloured red,

And I thought it very fine.

Here I am in Zimbabwe

Sixty years ago,

Darker hair and smaller waist

And the wrinkles were yet to show!

Poor old bright red Beetle!

Destroyed now, that's quite clear.

As for that female person....

She's battered, but she's still here!

*

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THE CURTAIN PARTED

It was just a glimpse in passing,

Just a glance and nothing more,

Just a quiver of a curtain,

Where no stir had been before.

Just a flash of dark eyes watching,

Just a blur of a frightened face,

Just a sense of desperation

Before the curtain fell in place.

Maybe I had been mistaken;

Maybe there was nothing there;

Maybe my imagination

Had made me hesitate and stare.

Foolish me, to see a drama

In a breeze-blown curtain's fall!

I shrugged my shoulders, almost laughing,

There was nothing there at all!

But still the visionary instant

Lingered with me all the day.

And my eyes sought out the window

As I homeward made my way.

Heavy curtains drawn completely!

Nothing sinister to see.

Fanciful! Thus I described it,

That image that had worried me.

Till, next day, I read headline,

'Murder victim number two!'

Till I saw the young girl's picture

And there was nothing I could do.

*