Shipwreck of Flesh - May 29, 2023

they nip my ankles

between the toes

behind the knees

minnows all over my skin

while I'm thigh deep

cleaning the pond

to them I’m a shipwreck of flesh

an opportunity to pick off

dead pieces of the drowned

to me

a nearly unbearable tickling

as I contort and shake a leg

like when my dad’s fingers

would ever so lightly

run along my skin

till he hit one spot

that made me shriek

uncontrollably

if that happens here

I really won’t care

if the neighbors are listening