qarrtsiluni

                swimming hole or should I say
        concrete hexahedron of chlorine
        water & washed-off sunblock
                                                   was never carefree

        someone didn’t have a lunch
        & deep-end pennies weren’t enough
                                   for candy bars from QFC

girls layered shredding suits
swam a few laps & announced
              you could lose more weight that way

             fatter girls stayed wrapped in towels
             until they plunged in hiding blue

    & when diving board contests of daring
went too far, lifeguards stopped telling
us to walk & strapped the wounded to backboards
for transport we didn’t know
                                          their parents couldn’t afford

by Elizabeth Kate Switaj

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