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.
*
---------------------------------------------------------------
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.
*
Painting things like this must be a pleasant thing to do.
*
