we trust our
sun-drinking bodies
to the river,
whooping at the rush
& gripping prohibited cans
we tumble, dunk, & spin,
climbing rocks in a
warm beer buzz,
closest we’ll come
to being mermaids
we grab branches
wrists rocks ankles
each other’s handles
even if we didn’t know
each other yesterday
we climb out of
the river scraped
& shivering, already settling
into the sleepy
joy of water hours