My brother graduated college in spring,
and we were both living back home in the town we were raised in
for the summer
One afternoon, we went swimming on the lake across the street
with a couple of friends
by the house where my roommate my freshman year grew up
On a whim or a dare,
we decided to see if we could try and flip his parents' 300 pound swim raft
The four of us stood at each corner like they were the ends of the earth
and began to rock the vessel back and forth
It moved slow, as if its body ached from old age
then stood up like a skyscraper before crashing back to earth,
scattering us like debris
We plunged into the water like stones
My brother and Dan surfaced first,
and probably aged a year for every second
before Pat and I came back up
We couldn't flip it back over,
so it just sat there like a turtle stuck on its shell

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