First Date

We were to race together

down the hill, bundled

warm against the winter cold,

on a toboggan, us two and three,

maybe four, other kids

holding tight to one another

to keep from falling off,

to stay together to the finish line

where the hill flattened out,

a final glide for the win

across a frozen bog

and winning you.

I would have held you tighter

to keep us somehow closer,

bundled warm and holding on

to each other, as we trudged

back up the hill, holding

hands and hearts, forever, but it

rained that day and the hill

turned a slushy mush,

a sled bogging down

and going nowhere,

ending too soon.