Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHEN THE FOLKS COME ALONG, by FREDERICK L. ALLEN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHEN THE FOLKS COME ALONG, by                    
First Line: I like to go driving alone in the flivver
Last Line: -- oh, why must my folks come along.
Subject(s): Driving & Drivers; Parents; Parenthood


I like to go driving alone in the flivver
For hundreds and hundreds of miles;
The motor goes sweetly, she climbs the hills neatly,
My face is a pattern of smiles;
Whenever there's something amiss with the engine
I quickly discover what's wrong;
A turn of a screw and she's fixed up like new --
But not when my folks come along!

For taking the family out in the flivver
Is far from my notion of fun;
If anything wearies me it is their theories
Concerning what ought to be done.
It's "Dear, are you sure that you tested the tires?"
And "When did you look in the tank?"
"I think that she's boiling." "I'm sure she needs oiling."
"Take care! you'll run into that bank!"

It's "Won't you please see what's the cause of that rattle?"
And "Please, you are going too fast!"
And sometimes it's "What'll we do if the throttle
Gets stuck as it has in the past?"
It's "Oh, how she bounces! Go slow on the jounces!
New springs are expensive, my dear."
With such remarks flying I find it so trying
That now I pretend not to hear.

Yet still they continue their critical comments,
Like "My, what a terrible squeak!
How long since you've greased her? -- Let's see, was it Easter?
It ought to be done every week."
And then, if the flivver gets into real trouble,
If anything really goes wrong,
It gets so much worse you can't put it in verse --
"Now what did I tell you? It's that spark-plug again!" "I think it's the
timer. We ought to have had a new timer put in months ago!" "Don't you
believe her, it's the magneto. It always acts like that when the magneto goes
wrong." "Don't stand there looking at us as if it was our fault! Can't you
do something about it?"
-- Oh, why must my folks come along.





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