I learned how to swim from the same old man
who taught my father and his parents before him
running lessons for all of town in his backyard pool
he so eagerly tossed us into the deep end to
retrieve the clay bricks he would drop in after
our small buoyant bodies hit the surface

it was at least a thousand degrees outside in summer
the diet cokes did little to hydrate so we guzzled
pool water and pickled our insides while the
chlorine turned our peachy hair green

those who dared venture outside the pool
ran because their lives depended on it
any slowing down near lifeguards or coach
would blister the bottoms of your feet in
an instant en route to the snack stand
or the safety of dad’s outstretched towel

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