i could almost hear
the perturbation
inside his head
that unremitting repetition
of twelve
long
school years
indoors
underpowered
and i imagined
his dream car
filled with mates
knocking about
suburban streets
me thinking
he should be
on the open road
but he’d know
         he was still going nowhere

First published in ‘Ochre Ten’ an Anthology by Ochre Coast Writers, edited by Dr Steve Evans October 2020