In January 1960
a Facel-Vega automobile folie,
black with a beige leather interior,
driven by Michel Guillamard,
left Lourmarin for Paris,
with two passengers and a dog named Floc.
In a Facel-Vega
at high speed be careful
to hold the steering wheel with both hands except when shifting gears
to keep as close as possible to the centre of the road
to reduce speed over the brow of a hill as a car might have stopped on the far side
not to look at anything else but the road
not to change the radio programme
not to smoke.
Near a roadside hamlet called Petit Villeblevin,
a place of no distinction,
the car left the road at speed.
an inexplicable accident.
Michel’s daughter, Anne,
found herself sitting in the mud calling for her dog
which was never seen again.
Albert Camus died at 1:54. Or maybe 1:55. I don’t know.
Michel died of a brain hemorrhage five days later.
in December 2001
while negotiating a sweeping left-hand bend
in a Peugeot 306,
W.G. Sebald suffered an aneurysm.
The car swerved across the road and collided with an oncoming lorry.
His daughter, Anna.
who was his passenger,
survived the crash.
March 2017