visit to a soft place
on the crest of a clandestine hill

it was cold     i remember     and she was on one -- a misery kick
     i could do nothing right     no
chance to slip past her virginity
that day, so we fought and hiked on up the mountain

(fought because i reached too far,   because
we loved

                    hiked because we fought)

  we were seventeen.
she had a family in mind and i was horny so of course we married

on a drive with my son    i turned around there    oh, ten years later.
     i could still see the holes she and i had made in that particular space, could
still sniff the frustration that had somehow led to matrimony, but

the sentiment I'd expected was absent.
too many years   i guess   and she was too far away

(what did i need with a place like that?)