Swimming in the Middle of Campus

The feel of wet denim
pressed to squeaking thighs,
the nights in which 
we feel alive
are the only ones
I remember. 


Saying "yes",
my lips kissing
the close of the word,
letting it linger
the taste of green apples
on my teeth.


I remember only the 
cool nights with long walks
and rambling stars,
held up by fishing line
so they shone real good
in the city. 


The plunge of my legs
in the campus fountain,
illuminated by the top heavy
clock, whose face watched us
carefully.


I remember
those news stories
of delinquents,
the two who held 
guns to car windows,
blasted through them
til they glittered 
on the sidewalk as mirrors
of the constellations.
Stole radios and were
swallowed up by summer air.


We are stealing time and 
stripping down the clock 
for a swim, the clear water
moving my toes like puzzle pieces
that don't fit anymore.


My memory loses pieces,
but the feeling of liberation
lasts and holds,
The faces of my friends
in the orange glow
as the waded in,
perfect glittering 'o's of teeth
and skin.


Saying yes, 
the best decision
I've ever made,
could make.
To recall long
from now in stories
lined up along bar stools,
to say I swam
in the fountain.