What Pole?

Ed was an expert behind the wheel,

he had driven everything

from eighteen wheelers to Army tanks.

 

Couldn’t tell him a thin about driving

since he had done it for thirty years.

 

When I was training him

as courier for my company

how he slipped behind the wheel

so full of confidence,

adjusted those rear view side mirrors

like he was a real pro

and told me those little bubble mirrors

attached to the larger ones

were only for novices,

because any seasoned driver

knew with exact precision

how far away object was

from the regular reflections.

 

So he cruised out of the parking lot

waded through traffic showing no stress,

sure had me convinced he was an expert

until backing up to that dock.

 

Ran right into a light pole

smashed the bumper real good,

tried to mumble it had moved

was somehow made to change spots

by a guy who had hidden

in order to make him look bad.

 

Rest of the day got worse

two more times he hit something while backing up,

when we got back to base he blamed in on faulty mirror

claimed if we removed them he would be fine

then he drove of in his car and struck a wall

not to surprising he didn’t come back the next day.