we swam for joy
by Jack Ritter
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all summer long
contesting dive rank
who had the wettest
cannon ball
broadest swan
sharpest jack
we were that good
the under water distance competition
you sink like a stone
shovel your feet into the muck
run like a panzer
eighty seconds later
pop up way out there
our twelve year old bodies
cavorted slithered swam
through storms and setting suns
summer put there for us to inhale
then pound one another like gorillas
suddenly it was back-to-school
a slogging campaign
of symbols and rules
packs of tools
while we were learning
to borrow and carry
our minnow natures died
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