if i had anything to describe this week
it would be trying to buy a car
a friend says she's driving a two hundred thousand mile vehicle that
hesitates
at junctions
well we all do
on friday i was at one with this one car
a saab
it seemed good
at least to the extent of my understanding
i'm a bit demanding when it comes to cars
requiring records and near perfection where others
care as much for oil changes as they do for celtic solstice celebrations
and other superstitions
i drove a likely mercedes
the lady worked for the dealer and had been first in line when someone
had traded in a three hundred e
with all the records
but at the freeway on ramp
it hesitated
like my friend's car
and in the records
looking carefully at the text
you could see this
the old order had abandoned ship in frustration
when the epidemic of part replacement got too much
i almost bought friday's saab
the savage i wasn't looking for
just because it was ten years old and had only limited miles on
the clock
why didn't i
the alignment seemed out
and when they fixed that
there was still a shudder
which some gods took to be a bad sign
so one car remains
owned by a lawyer
on which we have made an offer
and the reason i'm writing is that we're in limbo
near where a postbox lies
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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