The Same Way the Water Cool Lake Tahoe Revealed minnows Swimming between your knees Above the pearly sand and rocky beds Your toes explored. Green! Green, the Conifers Matted on mountains Around this giant gem. Likewise, the American River Felt limitless When I stepped naked Into pools we found Round the River’s bends. We, then, my mother and I and "Rod", The man whose black hair Was like an electrified bluff, Rod who sprang back up from Manitoba To be my “Dad”, my stepfather, Rod from wilds of Manitoulin Island, Said it was “fine” to swim naked. He’d do it himself, he said, "If your mother would let me." I learned more to swim in Lake Folsom, Siltily brown water Enveloping as I dog-paddled Between Rod and Betty, The Hills then brown as toast, Water dappling our backs And drying fast Before we reached a parking-lot That was not too full, 1957.
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