At The Place Of Spearing Fish And Eels

At the base of a hill
Under a tree
Beside a frozen creek
We leaned on a rock

It’s so cold, she said.
I agreed.
I lit her cigarette,
We have to get out of here, I said.
I raised my head over a bluff,
It was snowing and the wind was blowing
Hard from west to east.
I couldn’t see ten feet.
What do you think, she asked.
I think we’re fucked.
Great.
How many cigarettes do we have left?
Two.
I have to walk out of here and get help.
You’re an idiot.
Fair enough, but I’m not going to just sit here and
Freeze to death without cigarettes.
You’ll leave that to me.
I’ll build you a fire.

I couldn’t build her a fire
With wet wood.
I walked for a long time.
Found a house over a hill.
The snow let up.
The guy in the house had a snowmobile.
We set right out to find her and did
Right where I left her.
She was almost dead.
We took her to a hospital.
It goes with out saying, I said.
Shut up.
They had to cut off two of her toes.
I never saw her again.