by Teresa Burns
My Dad is driving us home
and is singing a song
about a man who dances on the moon
I like sitting on the front seat
Of his transit van
We’re taller than everyone
Bigger than everyone
And my Dad...
He’s Mr. Cinemascope
As we cruise around the streets of Luton
It’s exhaust coughs and splutters
Like an audience
Anxious
A performance is about to begin
Inside the rust
Amidst the dust of our luxurious limousine
‘M BURNS BUILDERS & SONS’
A Vauxhall sierra in need of a right good clean
It’s cassette player plays
The greats
The musicals of MGM
Me and my Dad
We love them
As the orchestra really swings
He turns to me with a mischievous look in his eyes
I’ve seen that look before
It means one last adventure before bed time
He asks me where’s next, where do I want to go
‘Pfff errr Daaa-ad
I
thought
we
were
going
home’
‘Come on’
‘Anywhere in the world’
‘Right Now’
‘You choose’
‘New York, Down Under, Auntie Eileen’s, Spain’
As if I needed to think about it
‘DISNEYLAND’ I say
‘Disneyland it is’
He puts his foot down
He’s a space cadet on a mission into outer space
He’s chin sits on top of the giant steering wheel
Squinting
The moonlight hits his face
Of course I don’t really believe we’re going to Disneyland
No
He’s just joking in-ee?
He didn’t even ask me which one anyway
Not that it actually matters really
He turns up the stereo
And the pavements light up beneath
And I peer out of the window
The big seat belt tucked under my cheek
The street lamps dance all around us
And I swear there are butterflies in my tummy and in my chest
‘Tell you what
We’ll race the moon to Disneyland’
My Dad says
It was neck-a-neck all the way
The moon was relentless
A stubborn competitor
Who knew the moon was so into Disney?
Harbouring secret desires to get to know Pluto better
We sped and swerved
And we sang all the way
Racing the moon to Disneyland
On a school night
An idle Tuesday
And then we turn into a street
All so familiar to I and he
It was the street that we lived
Not sunny Florida or Gay-Paris!
‘I suppose we’d have to invite Mum and Damien, if we went without them they’d be sad’
As we pulled into the driveway
‘That’s exactly what I thought’ said Dad
He lifts me out off the front seat
My feet
Too little to climb down
We give up the fight
The moon’s smug glare burns our faces now
‘The moon won Dad. We lost’
And we look up at the sky
‘No, Darlin’ in life we never lose
We just run out of time’
He slams the big rusty door
And in his arms I fly
And we never did make it to Disneyland
But who knew
That sawdust
And stardust
Could live so happily side by side
Goodnight
