SLAMMING CAR DOORS...

Slamming Car Doors

I was around six years of age

And I was an addict.

I was unable to resist.

I was scolded and told to desist

But despite my father’s rage,

It was a genuine, selfish need,

An inner, stubborn greed:

To open and then slam car doors…

I was only around six years old 

But I was an addict.

Until, like an eager, helpless fool 

I pulled a car door’s handle near my school

But panic set in, I went horribly cold

And I fled, running along the street

Praying there were no chasing feet,

Until, shaking, I was safely indoors…

Pete Ray

July 2020

UNCLE JACK'S CAR...

ACCOMPANYING NEIGHBOUR 'RON' IN BAMVILLE ROAD, WHERE SO FEW CARS USED TO BE PARKED...

My cousin, based now in the USA, sent me an old image of his dad’s car from the 1950s, an Austin Ruby.

I could not resist opening and then shoving its doors closed. I was told off for doing it…

Then one day as I walked home, alone as usual, in the road I lived in, Bamville Road, Ward End, Birmingham, there was a car parked…

BAMVILLE ROAD, WHICH WAS A PLEASURE TO PLAY IN...

I tried the handle and it opened wide (unlocked, clearly) but I was so shocked that although I tried to shut it, it didn’t move much and I simply despaired and raced to my house, terrified.

That cured me…