First Car

My father wiped the sweat from his brow.

We were in town for shopping,
It was his first car,
The year: 1964.

In the mirror, sweating in shirt and shorts
His seven-year-old boy,
Two women talking in the road,
And a dog that barked.

It was summer. Hot.
My father yawned.
He stretched his arm
Along the warm back of the seat

And I leaned forward: “Dad…”
Sweat gathered on his brow.
The women were getting in a car.
The dog still barked.

It was 1964.
My father's first car.
We were in town for shopping
And I leaned forward: "Dad".