Good Neighbors Poem by JDC LeDrew

'I've never seen this back fence before,
No matter.
We'll find it north to south.
You carry the wire stretcher
And I'll pack the spool and clips and hammer.

You pack the staples,
I'll pack us water.
Let's, both of us carry our own dinner.
They'd have to send us out
On the hottest day of summer, wouldn't they?
Well then, Saturday it is. Six o'clock it is.
Meet you at the Four Corners gate.
Good-bye.'

They ride all morning side by side and talk,
Never finding a strand broken or wire sagging.
They laugh and tease and learn each other's ways,
Both find them pleasing.
Both smile easily.
At nine they stop atop a knoll,
She must relieve herself.
There's no tree or bush in sight for a mile.

'I have to pee, ' she tells him with a laugh.
'Turn your head, and no peekin'! '
She holds her horse between them and dismounts.
He watches the far horizon and notes
That the mountains are dressed in purple haze,
The far sage a silver gray.
Heat waves shimmer and roll.
They trick his eyes and his stomach so much
He must look away.

'Got me some paper in my shirt
If you need it, ' he tells her.
'I'll just shake, ' she says with a giggle.
He laughs from deep in his chest
And then flushes bright red when he realizes
He's turned to look at her.
Soft, brown hair hangs in damp curls around her face.
She grins and laughs up at him and then,
She winks a dark-lashed eye.
Both laugh so loudly, they spook the horses.

They find no fence to mend the whole day,
But they open a gate for the entire summer.
By day's end, just as her mother had planned,
They are the best of friends.