Driving lesson
Before the first turn of the key, before
adjusting the mirror, before releasing the handbrake even,
Dad said: there are two things you need to know.
The first, he said, is double-declutching.
It’s got me out of many a scrape. It keeps the gearbox sweet.
How many revs are there? There’s the counter.
The second, he said, his voice hoarser, more intense,
is what to do in the event of aquaplaning.
Don’t brake sharply. Foot off accelerator. Wheel steady.
Start the car then, he said, suddenly tetchy.
Tonight, in this storm, the car gliding strangely on a flood,
I think of him, control my memory, shift into neutral.
Bill Greenwell lives in South Shields. His first collection Impossible Objects was shortlisted for a Forward Prize. In 2017 he won the Magma Editors Award. He wrote creative writing course material for the Open University before retiring