Would accomplish more
Than a long, uphill walk
Through the end of Winter.
Early Spring - March - no heat
And five of us standing,
Shivering in our jackets,
Wondering what shelter this summer
cabin
Was imagined to provide.
It was different in the Fall;
Same layers of dust,
Yellow leaves
And a fire burning bright.
Or mid-Winter, years later,
Slip-sliding through the snow,
Kevin's truck sideways in the ditch,
And Tom's wife's girlfriend
Belligerently assaulting the frozen
road
As though a frontal attack by automobile
Would accomplish more
Than a long, uphill walk
Through the end of Winter.
She failed that night,
But not a later one,
A warmer night for all but Tom,
The cabin empty,
Left behind.
11-19-99
