next cab off the rank

late August 2005, Marim County

walking uphill through white weather

unseasonably warm

I come across a woman who

works out

eschews alcohol

has three lovers

none of whom

knows of the others

hopes to get pregnant

by one of 'em

is forty something

it's probably

too late

she's been there done

that

held down jobs on both sides of the world

some of which

wouldn't seem likely for such a diminutive

lady

gay mountaineer

crocodile wrangler, country and western

warbler, librarian

for a theosophist in Kensington

a body building legend's

masseuse

she tells me all this in the space

of a few minutes, you know

how it is, when you meet someone in passing

share bacteria

admire the view without comment, find

you're swapping philosophies

histories, I

surreptitiously

take her photo

when her back

is turned

late August 2005, Marim County

walking downhill through white weather

unreasonably

warm