John Yohe

long thin skirt

Chet was a sawyer
on our wildland firefighter hotshot crew
a local from Camp Verde
who at first didnt like me
because I had long hair
a college degree

his hair was short
tho he had no desire for the military
but did plan on
working for Border Patrol

I won him over
by always getting up early
in fire camps
to help out
working hard
but mostly by
singing and playing guitar
when we were back
at our barracks

his girlfriend went to NAU
in Flagstaff
had let her hair grow into dreads
wore long thin skirts
sometimes drove down
to our district
on the national forest

one night
Chet + some other guys
were going to play poker
he came over to my barracks
asked if I/d
keep her company
play her some songs
so she + I sat out on a picnic table
under the ponderosas
barefoot
while they gambled inside
I did sing and play some songs
but mostly we talked about books
college
music
while the guys got drunk
and yelled and laughed

I finally said goodnight
grabbed my sleeping bag
went out in the forest
for the quiet
she went inside

fire season picked up
we went to California for a month
came back got laid off

I drove up to Flagstaff
before getting on I-40
to head back to Chicago
driving down Aspen Street
saw her walking w/some girlfriends
almost stopped
to walk over + say hello

quit firefighting
the next summer
but moved to Flagstaff
never saw her
never thought to look for her
until decades later
now