Still Snapped.

Waiting

By: Raymond Carver

Left off the highway and

down the hill. At the

bottom, hang another left.

Keep bearing left. The road

will make a Y. Left again.

There's a creek on the left.

Keep going. Just before

the road ends, there'll be

another road. Take it

and no other. Otherwise,

your life will be ruined

forever. There's a log house

with a shake roof, on the left.

It's not that house. It's

the next house, just over

a rise. The house

where trees are laden with

fruit. Where phlox, forsythia,

and marigold grow. It's

the house where the woman

stands in the doorway

wearing the sun in her hair. The one

who's been waiting

all this time.

The woman who loves you.

The one who can say,

"What's kept you?"