Don't junkyard me yet, I'm still not quite done!

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She's a blackout model 1942 coupe

at first black and stark, then dressed up with chrome

to a classier, sassier look. Small rust

spots now blemish her cool satin finish, but

she still has a good lookin’ sparklin’ shine

and a rather rakish profile parked here at the curb.

 

Built in Chicago almost 80 years ago, with

mostly authentic parts still holdin’ strong

ceptin’ for those two front-axel fixes, and

and that nasty ole valve what blew a leak in her seal

nearly punchin’ a hole right into forever,

till a master valve monkey fixed the whole deal.

 

This sweet baby hums awake before dawn

And yea, one tire shimmies and her rear bumper’s bent

she needs some new grill work but hard to replace

cuz plastic won't do for this dame of the streets.

With flickering headlights and dimmin’ high beams

she can still take a corner with smooth, tarnished ease.

 

This baby ain’t ready for junkin’ quite yet

still got business to do and new tires to wear,

ole chassis handles bumps and potholes just fine

and her wiggle still catches the eye as she passes.

She might be a vintage, outta style and slowed, but, she'll

out class any youngster on a slow cruise through town.

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Sharon Lopez Mooney, “Don't junkyard me yet!”, From Words of Power, a poetry anthology", ed., Kevin Watt, November, 2020, California