Treading Water Again Poem by Charles Malcolm

Turquoise shadows and black sparks
danced off of the pool house
as we huddled together
in the shallow end.
Our toes screamed from scaling the chain
but burned ignored,
fixated on stiff bits of flesh
that hardened in the autumn breeze
and poked through cotton
without words or breath.

Those same-sex glances
that we all traded between dares.
That sense of Tesla
that we all felt between chattering teeth.
The unbelievable lies
that we all told about needing or wanting to go home.

I felt it again
eighteen years later
as I held my breath
the longest,
still wondering
whether she wanted to be dunked
or kissed.