Pre-Motorways Family Motoring

When every road in England had a verge,
deep enough and safe enough for picnics,
my mother wove a basket for the flasks:
Thermoses of water, metal teapot for the tea,
when I was just a nipper in the '50s.

Then, cars were so infrequent, excitement would mount
when we heard one approaching: we would wait ... for ...
MeeEEOWww as it passed us - the Doppler effect.
I can still hear that engine noise surge
and then fall, from when every road in England had a verge.

© Celia Warren 2015