Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!!!!!!

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Elizabeth Santos
Member Rara Avis

since 1999-11-08

Posts 9269
Pennsylvania

0 posted 2007-09-24 08:42 AM

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines !!!!

I headed down to Dover
Where bright colors fly the breeze
Where speed’s a drug that gets you high
And brings you to your knees

Addicted to the fast lane
And adapted to the noise
Your heart beats much more rapid beats
For all those racing boys

It is will and thrill and grueling chill
And guts that pack the stands
It’s like a separate way of life
Among those racing fans

They sang the national anthem
With bombs bursting in the air
The crowd was revving up
To watch their heroes do or dare

Gentlemen, start your engines!!!!
Things were just about to start
And it was number 20
Who had claimed a child’s heart

My companion was a ten year old
So much more in the know
And this was heaven ‘s heaven to him
As far as races go

A myriad of colors
Swung the curve and flew on by
But orange was the color
That was in a child’s eye

There was Earnhardt and Andretti
There was Newman, Busch and Green
But 20 was the number that was
Speeding through a dream

Four hundred monster miles
And four hundred grueling laps
A normal day for heroes
And for race-crazed fans perhaps

The bleachers packed up to the sky
And coolers brimmed with beer
The faithful camper city staking claims
From year to year

Adults with car shaped lunch boxes
And wild good luck charms
Insignias on baseball caps
On necks and legs and arms

But eyes were on the oval track
And nerves were frayed and tense
The race restarted many times
With rules that don’t make sense

With only sixteen laps to go
And metal on their heels
The speed of expectation
Was the speed of smoking wheels

Velocity, no issue
All were game to push the max
With trophies on the finish line
And racers on their backs

And then it came, the nightmare lap
When one bounced off the side
And five more cars at bullet speed
Were destined to collide

But praise the Lord, they walked away
At a quite humbled pace
With  number twenty still alive
And vibrant in the race

A little boy upon his feet
Two little ayes were wide
And there were dreams of trophies that
He harbored deep inside

The race was over, Edwards claimed
That sweet elusive prize
But it was number twenty
Who was champion in his eyes

For my grandson’s tenth birthday, his present was a day at  Nascar In Dover with his grandmother. It was a blast!
Still reeling with that feeling!
Liz

[This message has been edited by Elizabeth Santos (09-24-2007 10:21 AM).]

Sunshine

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-25

Posts 63354
Listening to every heart

1 posted 2007-09-24 10:07 AM

NASCAR is very addictive, indeed.
My husband and I have been fans
for close to 30 years now.

I miss all those faces of the past,
but glow in the hearts of the new cast
the sons of grandfathers who brought joy
to the girls and all the boys...

Bravo, Elizabeth, for giving your grandson
a memory he will never forget!

TinaTrivett
Senior Member

since 2006-07-15

Posts 569

2 posted 2007-09-24 10:16 AM

Wonderful poem...even more wonderful for your grandson.

Margherita
Member Seraphic

since 2003-02-08

Posts 22236
Eternity

3 posted 2007-09-24 10:32 AM

So bright and full of enthusiasm!
Beautiful and of course exciting for the little boy.

Love,
Margherita

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis

since 2007-09-16

Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California

4 posted 2007-09-24 12:50 PM

My husband was a racing fan, too bad I can't show him this poem, He might have become interested in poetry as well.

Artic Wind
Member Rara Avis

since 2007-09-16

Posts 8080
Realm of Supernatural

5 posted 2007-09-24 06:20 PM

Racing has never been my kind of hobby, but well done, i was iterested in the title

ARCTIC WIND

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