Popular Mechanics

there’s “Whitey"

at the Esso station

and then there’s “Theo”

at the Gulf station.

for a time my oldman drove

a 1950 pea-green

flat-head six, Ford two-door coupe

which Chuck Berry himself immortalized

in his song: "you can't catch me" 

("here come a flat-top he comes movin' up with me..")

but when it broke down permanently it was stationed

in the backyard at 1017 Bedford.

In the winter I’d sit behind the wheel shifting through the gears.

there were three forward gears activated from the column.

the clutch was drying out of its necessary lubricant

and shifting became hard to do.

winter made matters worse.

the vapor from my mouth seemed to be a prelude to smoking cigarettes.

the engine couldn’t start.

but the little button protruding from the dashboard

allowed the mechanism to turn the engine's crankshaft, agonizing

its impossible mission–– and then, well,

soon enough, that failed, too.