Twisted in a Mini Ritz

Summer days in a silver Mini Ritz
with red racing stripes, bucket seats,
and the perfect sound system,
on the way from Twickenham
to Fulham. I had my windows down,
stuck in jam,  suffocating heat eased
by a warm breeze, jazzing along
to ‘Twisted’: “My analyst told me
that I was right out of my head”,
enjoying dog days of freedom,
doing my best Joni impression.
I glanced to my right and, only inches away,
hummed an open top sports car with two men
in suits, and in stitches at my enthusiasm.

Kim M. Russell, 18^th April 2025

On the eighteenth day of NaPoWriMo, our daily resource is a virtual visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which is new to me, and the optional prompt plays around with song lyrics in a very specific context – singing while riding in a car. Our example poem is by Ellen Bass’s poem, ‘You’re the Top’.

Our challenge is to write a poem that recounts an experience of driving/riding and singing, incorporating a song lyric.

Mine is a true story from a long time ago, a poem I’ve reworked from a haibun I wrote in 2017.