I think it was
a seventy three
OR thereabouts
she bought it
NEW and it was cute
it was
YELLOW
and I loved that the air conditioning
had a DESERT setting
LIKE
I GUESS
if it's
REALLY HOT
which of course it was
MOST of the time
though
NOT DRY
it had problems
right from the
START
although I can't remember
what the specific
PROLEMS were
BUT
THAT
and the fact that it was
YELLOW
meant that it's nickname was
LEMON
I have had three cars
the first one
was a metallic sandy gold
the second one
was CALLED
BRICK
I thought it was more of a burgundy color
the third one
I have now
is BLACK
on top
& gray on the bottom
when I got the first one
I wouldn't have
probably
ADMITTED it to you
because I was VERY anti-yuppie
and, again, the MOST class conscious
person EVER
BUT
what I WANTED
was one of those kinda flat looking
MERCEDES in the color
BITTERSWEET
which was sort of an earthy
ORANGE
NONE of my cars
has been chosen for it's color
they were all kinda
just the car
I could get at the time
I didn't learn to drive
until I was eighteen
and for the last twenty years or so
I don't drive my car more than
about three thousand miles
per year
the only road trip I have taken
in my current car
is to Austin
when it was "new"
& only had like 158,000 miles on it
every time you've ever seen me
I've been in a rental car
on one of the trips last year
no, two of them
I had
a Toyota COROLLA
which I decided
is way FUNNER to drive
than any of the previous cars I've driven
which surprised me
well
I test drove a tiny MAZDA that was
SUPER FUN
BUT
it was too SMALL for my
LARGE body
to feel
COMFORTABLE
which was kinda a shame
especially since
I was having trouble finding anything
in my budget
and the MAZDA was
only four or five years old
a trade-in
that they weren't even doing anything to
for like four thousand dollars
BUT
I lucked out
& found the ninety five Lexus
a guy working at
a small used car lot near me
had bought it at auction
done work on it
BUT
then needed to unload it
because he had to
buy an SUV
moving
his family to the East Coast SOMEWHERE
& his wife insisted
it's been a good car for me
although
SOMETIMES
the speedometer doesn't work
& SOMETIMES
it won't
BACK UP
my mom's car
is a toyota rav-blah blah
previously
I was afraid to drive
an SUV
BUT
on a road trip to see you last year
the rental car place was like
I don't care what you asked for
THIS is what we've
GOT
take it or leave it
SO
I learned to do the thing
I feared
BECAUSE
I had to
to SEE you
I don't know if I
TOLD
you about
THAT
I don't REMEMBER much
of what I thought
or did
or said
during most of that time
I NOTICE
the balance seems very
WEIRD and top-heavy
for turning
& maneuvering on her SUV
MUCH more
than on the
BLUE ROGUE
I learned
on
I guess that might be
the ONLY
BLUE car
I've ever driven
& I'm pretty sure
that was the February trip
pretty sure the other two trips
we're silver corollas
which are
ALMOST
STEALTH
so nearly every car blended in
BUT
I ENJOYED the
HANDLING*
*which I had been led to believe was
SUB STANDARD by consumer reports
