In the parking lot of a grocery store
on a chilly evening in November,
the cough and wheeze of her car's ignition
reminds me how we, too, are starting out.

The synergy between fire and motion,
centuries old by now, proven to work -
yet there still remains a suspenseful gasp
at the outset of this reaction:

will her key spark the engine to turn over,
moving us ahead? Or will heat fail us,
the motor inert, our fate in the cold?

For tonight, at least, the car will run.
We drive to her cottage and get into bed
          holding each other until we are warm.