RED-HAIRED MAN AND SLUT SUCK FACE ON SNOWY EVENING AT HOT TUB

There is a back story to this poem some of you may be familiar with, which is written by the Editor of the small town newspaper that ran a few of my stories last year.
CLICK HERE for the backstory.

The short version is that she kept changing my titles. Click here to see some examples.

I asked her a few weeks back if I could post her poem (which I think is very good) and she said I could.
"I'm really pleased you like it that much " she said.
"Yes, I think its a great poem" I said "but I have to ask you one thing."
"Whats that?" she asked.
"I was wondering if it would be OK if I changed your title, the way you used to change mine? "
"No, silly" was her reply, so without further ado, and without having changed the title of her poem, I give you:

TRIMBLE
I saw a post tonight

From a friend who
Checked in at Trimble
Hot Springs and Spa
And I was reminded of
The time I went there
In the wintertime
With a guy - he had
a red beard - I met
Him at the coffee shop
He used to be a regular
But had moved to
Telluride where he
Drove a taxi and
Lived in an apartment
In an old Victorian
Downtown
So he liked me,
Of course, and
Invited me to the springs
And though I didn't
Care for him much,
One way or the other,
Because he seemed just
Too much into me,
I went anyway because
That was a time when
I was bored and trying
Hard to try hard
I met him at the springs
In the evening
And it was snowing
He drove an old BMW
His backseat was his closet,
From what I could see,
Clothes piled high
Around shadowy boxes
And boots and coats
Thrown here, there
A small accordian file
Tied with a shoestring
Or so I imagined,
Because it was dark
And I really couldn't
See very well at all
But anyway
I wore my bikini top
And shorts, flip flops
Slip-sliding on the ice
All the way from
The warm steamy
Dressing room, past
The Olympic-sized
Swimming pool, covered
For the season,
To the hot spring pool
It was cold, I tell you
My breath pretty much
Froze in the air
But once I got to
The pool and slipped
In, between clouds of
Steam rising through
The falling snow,
I was warm, and there
He was, red beard
Slightly damp, chest bare
Teeth glowing white
Through his smile
He was happy to
See me, I could tell
We stood next to
Each other in the pool
Making small talk
Learning about him
He learning about me
Our legs touching in
The murky dark of
Underwater, fleeting
At first and then
Deliberately, his hand
Finding mine, and
There we were, as the
Snow fell silently and
Other folks whispered
And cars passed on the road
Two strangers just
Sharing time and space
When we left
He kissed me
On the hand
And on the cheek
Softly on the lips
And said he'd call
When he could find
A phone, he did but
I never answered.