Friday, June 08, 2018

Poetry Friday: Driving Lessons



Driving Lessons

Child #1:
My right foot
is pressing
desperately on an
invisible brake pedal.
My voice: tense.
Body: rigid.
Knuckles: white.
Mortality: powerfully aware.

Child #2:
Her tranquilizing
confidence becomes
my confidence.
She says the wheel
in her hands feels
just as it did
in her dreams.
What a second-y second child
this girl is.

Child #3:
Six years younger
than her closest sister.
(A final round, then
I'll retire from this gig.)
She has been watching
road signs, listening,
absorbing.

We are both grateful
for those who
came before, for the girls
who have been
helping both of us
to grow up.

© Karen Edmisten

~~~~~

Poems are being rounded up this week at Whispers on the Ridge

12 comments:

jama said...

Oh my, can't believe Ramona is DRIVING? Sigh. Wonderful poem, Karen!

Linda B said...

There are only two in my daughter's family, but the differences seen in approach to life are amazing. You've written universal truth here, Karen. I love the voices you've given them.

Karen Edmisten said...

Jama, it really is unbelievable, isn't it? And yet I am faced with the tragical, roadworthy truth. :) I'm so glad you like the poem!

Linda, thank you! Re-reading it just now, I think I want to change "second child" to "second-y second" child.

I'm going to do that right now. You two are part of the revision process today, I guess. :) Thanks for chiming in!

Ruth said...

Oh, I love this. Our children really do help us grow up.

Tabatha said...

I just gave our third child her first driving lesson this week. Our paths are overlapping, Karen! My kids certainly have helped me grow up in so many ways.

Mary Lee said...

I love it when a poem is about so much more than what it purports to be about!

Karen Edmisten said...

Tabatha, how fun that we're overlapping!
Mary Lee, thank you!

Whispers from the Ridge said...

My boys aren't at the driving stage yet. Thank goodness, because I'm not ready! I'm sure it will be a growing experience for all of us. Thanks for sharing!

Jane @ www.raincitylibrarian.ca said...

I never learned to drive, so my dad thought he'd escaped having to teach someone to drive. Imagine his surprise when his college-aged daughter came home and asked him to take her boyfriend driving! My boyfriend lived away from home and didn't have anyone to take him practice driving, so my poor dad ended up having to take on driving teacher duties after all! :-D

Carol said...

I have been here and done this! Only twice though. Son #2 was much easier (or maybe I was much calmer) than Son #1. Son #2 is also a better driver, now, seven years later. Hmmmm.....Have you shared this with them?

Michelle Kogan said...

Fun poem Karen, my second child recently got her drivers license, she's taken the car out a few times on her own for short runs, but I think there's still a ways to go–glad the hard part is over though …I hope.

Linda Mitchell said...

LOL! I'm on child #2 out of 4. I look forward to retiring from the gig too! They are all so different--each child. Never do the differences show up as they do in driving lessons!