My Uncle's old blue van
our delighted childhood
transported from train to farm
creator of our Summer
holiday
as magical as anything
could have been
to our open
innocent minds
lies forgotten
& forgetting
behind the barn
rusting in rain
stung by sun
in summers come & gone
an orange rust
delicate as lace
chewing like cancer
into its solid blue body.
A chicken drives it now
perched upon its steering wheel
going nowhere
fast
clucking'' Get outta de way! '
Rotted rubber
still clinging to the wheels
like flesh
leaving bone
protected by gangs
of highly strung nettles
ravished by weeds
& overgrown trees
me & some newly laid eggs
jostled together in the passenger seat
a cockerel crowing
he has all the back seat
the windshield
flecked with years
of flattened flies
a multitude of squashed bugs
as we speed
into the past
meeting my own ghost
with tears in my eyes.
Dónall Dempsey
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/meeting-my-own-ghost-for-barry/
