SUBSTANCE

The cars my father drove

would wrap themselves around curves

and we barely noticed the centrifugal forces,

unlike the slippery aluminum and plastic

eggshells we drive today.

You could fix them under the shade of a tree

in the yard with a few tools and a friend or two.

We would ride for hours through two lane s-curves

in the womb of the Appalachian forests

deep in Tennessee and Virginia.

I remember diners on the squares of small towns

where Dad would stop for coffee in heavy, white mugs,

and some food cooked by the owner’s wife;

a place called Bob’s American Diner,

and we would sit in a booth

by a window near the car

so my mom could watch in case one

of my brothers woke up wide-eyed in the dark.

I drank cream from little glass bottles

with paper lids and

I felt safe.

Reviews

[Pete]

a bit of muscle car and americana nostalgia. such memories are part of who we are or where heart drifts. not a bad "happy place" in which to dwell if even temporarily in a memory. we could all use more of that kind of "substance". good stuff very much enjoyed.

p.s. cars were a lot simpler back then before they started adding all kinds of technology causing troubleshooting nightmares (if you even have the right troubleshooting gizmos).

[Vol]

And the cost for any new car was less than the average annual income... My father old Pontiacs in the late sixties, and remarked about the Bonneville the GM ordered with EVERY available option, and how no one thought it would ever sell at eight k... sold the day it came in. Most were in the two to three grand price range...

[Pete]

my dad had a baby blue ford falcon with roll down windows and no a/c.

[Vol]

Cool... what year?

[Pete]

not sure. i was born in '65 and it's the car he had when i was a kid. he sold it in the early seventies i think. it had a lot of rot from the road salt they use up here in winter. he had tape on the fender.
ford made it from '59-'70. he must have bought it during those early years of production. it was pretty powerful with a straight six. a kid with long hair up the street from us bought it. i think he did the body work and restored it. then my dad got a plymouth valiant after that.

[Pete]

he used to pull a camping trailer with the falcon - it had a lot of power. kids like to turn them into muscle cars.

[Vol]

Cool... The first ones were pretty ugly, but the later ones were gorgeous... Drove my grandfather from Wisconsin to Florida in summer in his blue and white 65... still better looking than most of what's out therre now.

[Kelly Scheppers]

My mom had a 57 turquoise Chevy. I still have the keys - for sentimental reasons. Man, that car was the epitome of cool! You capture the nuance of the days back then so perfectly, Vol. I am always impressed by the caliber of your work!

[Vol]

Kelly!
Hey! Thanks again for your input. Thinking back over shared experiences requires a quiet table some adult beverages and plenty of time for eye contact, sympathetic nods, and long silences... wouldn't that be nice?
Vol

[Thomas W Case]

Tremendous. I love the memory and imagery to convey a picture of a better world.

[Vol]

It was indeed...