If I Had a Norton

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I don’t want a motorcycle

anymore than I want a gun,

but if I wanted a motorcycle

I would want a Norton

A 1969 Norton Commando

Not a ‘67, by ‘69, when risk of fire was reduced, though, as with many British motors,

carburetors were forever in need of a tinkering, often as not, outright replacement.

 

Though I

would never ride it,

one set ought

to keep me.

 

And I would

keep it in a dusty shed

that smelled of gasoline

and straw

and motor oil

in Earle, Arkansas

and in the afternoon

the light

would filter through the slatted door.

 

Maybe I would sit in the dark

and smoke hand rolls

or Pall Mall Reds,

probably not.

 

I don’t want a horse

I have no interest in riding them

But I used to want a mule,

a white one, but now

I realize a black one would do.

 

I wonder if there is

a donkey big enough

to carry me?

 

I like black donkeys

I could keep a donkey in the country in Florida,

It’s only the motorcycle

I would need in the delta.