Rebecca Gethin

Cyril

I kept failing my driving test until I found him – 
a large wobbly-man whose purple Cortina 
contained him like a pair of too-tight trousers – 
his breath wheezed. His laughter soothed my nerves –

Pop it into first gear and off we go, he’d say. 
He said to drive in bare feet to feel the tugs and bites 
of the clutch. Stroke the gears into position, like this, 
and his spread hand brushed the gearstick.

Sit back, let the car do the work round the corners, 
he’d purr.  He taught my body to drive. 

In tight spots, when lorries with huge tyres
were bearing down towards me, he’d glance at me, 
Don’t look at the thing you’re trying to avoid.
Look up and beyond - into the space where you want to be. 

There, he said, poetry in motion. 

Rebecca Gethin has written five poetry publications and two novels. She was a Hawthornden Fellow and a Poetry School tutor.  Her poems are widely published in various magazines and anthologies. She won the first Coast to Coast pamphlet competition with Messages.