water
we swam for joyall summer long
lived in the lake
contested dive rank
who had the wettest
cannon ball
broadest swan
sharpest jack
the underwater distance competition!
you sink like a stone
shovel your feet into the muck
crank like a panzer through honey
eighty seconds later
pop up way out there
our twelve year old bodies
cavorted slithered swam
through rising storms and setting suns
summer put there for us to inhale
then pound on one another like gorillas
suddenly it was back-to-school
while we were learning to borrow a one
our minnow natures died
© J Ritter
Ninety eight words.
(originally published in Red River Review.)
Ninety eight words.
(originally published in Red River Review.)