While breaking from my sleep I wrote,
To my old car this dearly note:

We’ve traveled now for twenty years,
Through ups and downs, and laughs and tears.

200,000 miles you drove,
The memories are a treasure trove.

Your wheels have conquered tons of muck,
In all our years we’ve ne’er been stuck.

And parts of you I did replace,
At much less than a normal pace.

Your tires have balded like my head,
Then I have purchased you new tread.

Your sides have suffered dent and crack,
As I have with my own damned back.

Our bodies creak and sometimes moan,
But I don’t want another loan.

I could have traded you for new,
But loyal cars these days are few.

You long have been my noble chariot,
So I won’t be your Judas Escariot.

Don’t think of me as a hopeless schnorrer,
But I still want more from my Ford Explorer.

Here’s to another 200,000 miles, My Mechanical Friend!

By Keith Douglas Kramer
Photo by: Keith Douglas Kramer (11/21/1997 Malibu, CA)