First Driving Lesson
by Jennifer G. Knoblock
My grandpa—indulgent king of tender worriers—
faced with a summer clutch of adolescent girls
tucked them into a golf cart and let them go
putt-putting in long loops around the drive
learning to steer, to stop, to run
too close to the fence, upending
gloriously, surviving, unhurt
soothed with soda-pop
PHOTO: “Golf cart crossing” by mokee81, used by permission.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This is my first memory of learning to operate a motorized vehicle. A few years later, when I was learning to drive a car, this same wonderful grandfather set up practice scenarios on a quiet, dead-end street and spent patient hours in the passenger seat.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Knoblock writes, reads, sings, gardens, and tries to take care of her family. She has published two nonfiction books and one fantasy novella. Some of her poems have recently been set to music by composer Clayton J. Horath. She shares her poetry at gracefulpress.wordpress.com.
Silver Birch Press 