Some things, I think, you only do for friends. I think this as I drive through chilly night to meet my closest one, in need. She bends as if refracted through twin beams of light, to reach beneath the hood. I stand behind reading directions off a cardboard box -- I am the nervous one. "You have to find the anode", I instruct, "or else the shock wont start the car." Strung from her battery, almost umbilically, the cord connects to mine. So as she rolls her eyes at me I laugh, knowing the fact this night reflects: that we, like electricity, may stand at odds, apart, but come together perfectly when there are things to start.
Ali Fischer