Writing competition - 1 - Entry E (John Bennett)

Entry E

Much had it travelled in the realms of lead,
A small estate car, it had kingdoms seen;
Right to the western islands had it been
While I in fealty to Lloyds was bled.

Oft of one wide motorway had I been told
Displacing homes of rabbit, stoat and weasel.
Yet did I never breathe its acrid diesel
Until I heard the gearbox clatter loud and bold:

I knew the journey wasn't worth it when
I saw the oil-light, like a star, appear,

And then, I clambered out, with feeble eyes,
And stared beneath the bonnet with a growing fear,

Looked at the fan belt with a wild surmise,
Stranded, beside a road in Lancashire.

This is, of course, a parody of a sonnet by Keats