Big Mack

I have always been a trucker

I was raised on diesel fumes,

And I smoked two packs of Lucky’s

From daybreak to afternoons,

While I ate at roadside diners

From a plate that swam in grease,

And I downed two mugs of coffees

In my cab, the one I leased.

 

My Big Mack, my eighteen-wheeler

I once drove through western plains,

Then I hauled hogs out of Denver

And I shuttled freight to Maine,

And I kept my eyes wide open

As I popped those purple hearts,

I could feel my heart keep pounding

As I rolled beneath the stars.

 

It’s a great and grand old country

From New York to Idaho,

From the Rockies to Vancouver

And then down to Mexico,

And I’ve seen Tornado Alley

With a twister coming down,

And then through Louisiana

Where I’ve stopped, and gone to ground.

 

I was hauling hogs to Houston

Eighteen hours on the clock,

I was five hours past the limit so

I couldn’t fill my Log,

And the Bears were getting hairy

On the highway, going down,

I was too much in a hurry,

Took the rig the back way round.

 

It was getting on for midnight

And the night was more than black

As I found the off-road highway was

Just nothing but a track,

There were headlights in the distance

So I pulled off to the side,

Thought I’d wait for them to pass me

On that long and lonely ride.

 

But the lights approached me slowly

And they pinned me in their beam,

As I squinted through the darkness

Not believing what I’d seen,

So I flicked the headlights up again

To see what they revealed,

And it struck me like a pickaxe

That this ‘truck’, it had no wheels!

 

I sat frozen in my cabin

As this thing began to glow,

And it raised itself above me

Lit me up there, down below,

Then the eighteen-wheeler lifted

And without the slightest sound,

I was up there in the darkness

In the air, and looking down.

 

It could well have been a twister

Picked me up and flung me round,

I have seen whole trucks in twisters

Lifted up, clean off the ground,

But this thing that was above me

Took me on some drunken ride,

Skimming trees and fertile pastures

Shallow lakes and mountainsides.

 

It was some hallucination

From the pills I’d popped that day,

It was my imagination

Well I thought so, anyway;

But the cabin door flew open

And I leant out, looking down,

This was no imagination,

I was miles above the ground.

 

I slammed the door and took a slug

Of bourbon, of Jim Beam

That I’d hidden in the cabin,

All it did was make me dream,

With the pills, it must have hit me

As I crashed out in the cab,

And I didn’t wake ‘til morning

Frozen stiff, and feeling drab.

 

The Mack sat to its axles in

A field of pearl white snow,

A farmer looking up at me,

And willing me to go,

I asked him where I was, and then

I phoned the base, back home:

‘He said that I’m in Greenland!

Yeah! God-d****t! - Who would know?’

 

I smoke three packs of Lucky’s

Sometimes four, it all depends,

On whether I’ve passed out on Beam,

I’m not one to pretend,

I shudder when I see a rig

That night is with me still,

I never drive at night, and hey!

I bet I never will!

 

David Lewis Paget

Author's Note

This one for my American friends...

Reviews

[JM Russell]

This is funny. I could picture this so clearly since I've experienced the drive in the rig, It can be scary at night and when you have driven for hours your mind plays tricks. The drugs and booze add to the wildest of dreams. A state away would cause such yelling I can't imagine telling dispatch another country! Good job.

[SUGATA M]

Nice...like a thrilling tale of a seasoned trucker......has an universal appeal to touch upon the global family of truckers

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

and this American for one love's it. I was so glad to see all of your books online and to know that you leave the legacy of your writing for the world to see. I have only published 3 books so far in my short writing career of 2 1/2 years this only being 300 of my 1300 or so pieces..I need to catch up with you. Love you and your poetry David. You rock.

[Lisa Ring]

I am convinced that I could randomly pick a topic and you could write a masterpiece about it. I love that you can be anybody, anywhere, and the result is always an entertaining, well written gem. Thank you for that magical piece of Americana.

[Valentine]

David..this is like my brother Joe's stories of all of the years he was driving..except..he didn't end up in Greenland..He was always on the horn talking to mates going up and down the road..I can't think of his handle..but one day one of my dad's friend said he had heard this guy and he waS A RIOT...my dad smiled with pride,,and said.."Thats my boy" He will be stopping in on his way to Florida..this goes in favorites so he can see it..Thank you for cheering me up tonight..love and God bless Lyn and you..Katihe
.

[Kimberly "Melody" Carne..]

As always David, perfection in a poetic adventure---David Paget style!

[Patricia B. Hepler]

Thank you, sir-(from my husband, the former trucker who owned a Mack truck!)..
You are amazing-you take any subject and in the "Paget Meter", create a suspenseful trip until the final, surprising lines..
Always a pleasure to read your work~ pat

[Androglossia]

This is quite an adventure for me as well, who haven't been to America:) Your poem took me to the pages of the magazines I've read and the movies I've watched. Lucky cigars, Big Mack and purple pills? Ah, so America! Thank you for the great ride!

[Marie]

Enough pills and liquour and you can fly your truck anwhere.

[Antonio Valentino]

are you an actual truck driver my friend.. sounds like it would be an interesting occupation to say the least, and plenty of time as well to write about your travels.. nice story.. enjoyed the melodious form.. yes, be careful out on them roads.. you never know what your going to see out there..

nicely done

:)

[David Lewis Paget]

No, my friend, never driven a semi in my life; there again, never been to America, either. That's the beauty of the narrative form, you can be anything and go anywhere you choose. Thanks for the review...

[Antonio Valentino]

well you have a very creative mind sir poet..

thanks for the ride along... it was nice visiting my country through your eyes... :)