looked at me blankly then shook his head
I backed away and scuttled down the bank
he pulled his boat a little farther ashore
then hunkered down and built a fire
nobody came, no one even wandered near
I slipped away and bought us both
a hot dog and a beer, took them back
the man raised his eyebrows at them
if this is a bribe, he warned
I shook my head and offered them again
we hunkered by his fire and ate and drank
people think they can outwait me
he grinned and shook his head
we heard a horse and carriage on the street
it stopped and two men helped a third
stagger to the boat, the man across the fire
shrugged and tossed his food and drink
into the river, walked back to his boat
the two assistants hurried away
cold, the sickly man complained, so cold
not for long, soothed the boatman
he pushed his boat into the river
got in and began poling them across
I watched until I could not see them
then finished my own hot dog and beer
No comments:
Post a Comment