Swimming upstream
pressed between the roof
of my mouth and tongue
is a rock smooth with saliva
With someone’s feet
pressing on my back
I drag my body forward along the riverbed
Sometimes they let me float to the top
where I turn around and
feel the sun on my face
sucking cold air past teeth
coated in a green scum of algae
A blow to my belly
and a drop below the surface
the river-
not deep or fast enough to kill,
not taking me with it-
has cheated me
Climbing onto the bank
then to the path
walking home in a mess of dark and leaves