I have loved garages for longer than I can remember
There is something about them that makes me very happy
When I was much younger I was great friends
With the daughter of the local garage owner
It was a Regent Garage with an illuminated sign
When her father was out we used to mess about with this sign
Until we managed to fuse it into a deep mediocrity
He never knew of our idiocy and we swore each other to secrecy
Many years later I watched a French movie called
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
And I have to admit that the final scene at the Esso Garage made me cry
I was with a gaggle of girls and had to fake a Hay Fever attack (in November)
The DVD of the movie is a hidden pleasure and now I can weep quietly without guilt
When I was at university in a moment of brutal and extreme arrogance
I challenged the girl at the local garage to wear a revealing swimsuit
Under her overalls on a hot day which she did but was later sacked by the owner
She was studying at my college so I asked my wealthy father to sponsor her
My father being a kind man agreed and she became the sister that I never had
I am now married to a lovely girl and in my study I have a yellow Lego Garage
Which sits under a large print of Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station
My wife understands my love of garages as she is the sister of my garage sister
I am planning in future years to buy a garage in a remote spot
And just let time pass me by as it did in Edward Hopper’s Gas
We have print of this work in our first guest room above the bed