ASTON MARTIN

Drive me with your skilled, sure hands;
keep me within the legal speed limits
displayed on the road signs;
make sure my tyre tread always conforms
to the ideal safety depth gauge.

Try to keep me well inside the margins
of the white lines and cat's eyes;
and please don't over-rev my engine,
just keep me purring easily
without straining my aged gears.

When it is rush hour, try to remain calm.
I have no desire to race - although I still could.
Let no one ridicule you for respecting me,
or goad you into a road rage mode
filled with deadly competitiveness.

If there are accidents, let it not be us.
My biggest phobia is blue and white tape
across a closed carriageway. Don't let that happen -
where a forty-two ton truck has devoured me
and we are enmeshed within it's pistons and drive shaft.

Instead, cruise me gently along quiet country lanes
away from insane motorways, crowded city streets
or treacherous mountain tracks.
Just let your phone ring,
don't answer it while driving me.
Please, bring me safely home to my garage.