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hybrid.html
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Averil Stedeford, poet and author</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
<h1 class="header-name">Averil Stedeford</h1>
<h4 class="header-links">
<a href="/index.html">Home</a>
<a href="/poetry.html">Poetry</a>
<a href="/eco-renovation.html">Eco-renovation</a>
<a href="/sobell-house.html">Working with the dying</a>
<a href="/publications.html">Publications</a>
</h4>
<hr>
<h1>Hybrid</h1>
<div class="preserve-whitespace" style="font-size: 16px">Hybrid was originally the Latin name for
the offspring of a tame sow and a wild boar.
Since that ancient bastardy the word has come far.
We’ve just bought a Hybrid. Ours is a car.
The electric motor is the sow. Her battery’s massive bulk
is hidden behind the back seats where all good batteries skulk.
Petrol powers the wild boar. He charges her with zest
for he’s turned on when she feels low. He takes a rest
at traffic lights or in a queue. That way he doesn’t fart
which makes the townsfolk cough and wheeze. He’s courteous and smart
letting his mate, the silent sow, use all her subtle power
and rousing when the driver’s foot demands more miles per hour.
To zoom away at traffic lights or overtake uphill
requires a little extra so they couple with a will.
Braking and free-wheeling charge the battery
as wheels turn the motor, recouping energy.
Our Hybrid’s sleek and handsome, nothing like a pig.
The ride is very easy, the boot is very big.
The seats give every comfort, and for economy
you won’t find many better at 60 mpg.
You get a government refund; a thousand off the price.
No congestion charges; taxed like a motor bike.
So if you cannot bear the thought of being car-free
buy yourself a Hybrid, like my man and me.</div>
<p class="right"><i>Averil Stedeford</i></p>
<hr />
<p>
Written for European Car Free Day 2003 and read at a celebration in Broad Street, Oxford
</p>
<hr />
<p>
The car is a Toyota Prius, one of the first to be bought in Oxfordshire. We chose it when we knew my husband was dying. We had never owned a new car and we thought this was the time to buy one. He enjoyed driving it very much for a few months, and riding in it a bit longer. It still going strong and performing even better!
</p>
<p class="right"><i>Averil Stedeford, 2007</i></p>
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</html>