CAN WE BUY IT? (My new poem about Leigh Lambert's painting...)

 Can We Buy It?

(My poem inspired by Leigh Lambert’s painting…)

There is order. A street where memories are stored.

Litter is absent. A reminder of quieter days.

Hats for the older folks. Fashions restrained still,

Following austerity and the wartime rationing phase…

There’s a tea-room. A toasted teacake springs to mind.

A busy newsagent’s. An incongruous French boutique…

But there’s a shop for toys and games too, where a lad’s 

Gaze has fallen upon a pedal racing car, strangely unique…

There is a moment. A pause. A pointing finger.

Flames on a black shell. Wheels painted red and bright.

The father then leans to hear his son’s meek request,

“Can we buy it?” he asks, his entreaty polite…   

My pedal-racer was red. It bore the number six in white.

It was acquired by my father from someone he knew.

It was splendid really, though in truth I preferred a ball,

As my joy in playing soccer and cricket inexorably grew… 

Pete Ray

5th August 2025…

The painting so reminded me of my pedal-car, which was acquired by my dad from a family he called upon for their insurance payments.

Interestingly, the boy who had owned the car was Bob Carolgees, TV personality and famous for his puppet, Spit the Dog…

Bob’s real name was Robert Johnson…