This poem started off being about one journey, then ended up being about another. There's a rites of passage element that slipped in when I wasn't looking. I guess it's all part of the nostalgia I've been feeling lately for my early 20s, a period of my life that I've never particularly wanted to remember until now.
The Journey
The brakes that were
squeaking when they
left Picton were
grinding by the
bottom of Takaka hill,
the front right tyre
worn bare on the way
to Totaranui and
12km of potholes
in the metal road.
Three sizable young
women and their
bags in one noble
aging Mini on a
detour sideways
en route to adulthood,
pulling over for the guys
in a rusty Holden with
surfboards strapped to its
roof who knew
that the fastest way
to get somewhere was
to go hard on the
accelerator.
They were singing the
Ballad of Lucy
Jordan because of course
they knew that the
warm wind would always
blow through their hair
and that all of their
dreams were due to
come true in the crest
of a wave hitting
sand in the year
that they all
turned 22.
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8 comments:
Getting it all out is the best way to deal with it.
this was just beautiful.. i love this part......
that the fastest way
to get somewhere was
to go hard on the
accelerator.
Detour sideways - go hard on the accelerator. Those words brought back lots of memories. Sometimes I think journeys are similar with different sets. Enjoyed your writing!
Loved it reminds me of when I was young. Could travel all the way with you. Know all these wonderful places. Greetings from Christchurch
Ah, if only we could travel back-in time and feel the pounding of the surf and the warmth of being 22 again. Lovely and so very well said.
love-bd
I enjoyed this a lot -- especially the way it sped towards the ending. Excellent use of rhthym!
I always marvel when my words take me places I didn't set out to go.
I loved
"a
detour sideways
en route to adulthood"
writing is so often mysterious, only letting us know where we are going when we get there!
22 is a long way back there for me - being 50 has turned out to be pretty cool too.
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