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
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