how 12-year-olds flirt

how do you like
them apples

she asks

bellyflopping
cannonballing

moving as much water
as 99 pounds can splash
into his face

he likes them,
I can tell
as he shakes pond water
from his eyes

splashing back
but those eyes sparkle
with more than splashed water

About Susan L Daniels

I am a firm believer that politics are personal, that faith is expressed through action, and that life is something that must be loved and lived authentically--or why bother with any of it?
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24 Responses to how 12-year-olds flirt

  1. nelle says:

    Heh…yes. So cute, and such a priceless set of memories they make for themselves.

  2. doncarroll says:

    hahaha…good one susan:)

  3. unfetteredbs says:

    You captured the essence so very perfectly

  4. Mama Zen says:

    Awww! This is perfect.

  5. It has such a whippersnapper, child-like tone, murmuring colors~Great !

  6. Teresa Cleveland Wendel says:

    I love both of your swimming poems. May I post a link to them on my blog?

  7. Green Speck says:

    Very cute and innocent πŸ™‚

  8. Ian Moone says:

    smiling at this one πŸ™‚ nice sense of playfulness to it

  9. do Mum-chaperones have rights to invade the privacy of adolescents? Ados have rights, and I protest on their behalf as I dive for a second helping of this poem! By the way, did the watching send the watcher down memory lane? Please invoke the 5th amendment where necessary here! Did it provoke any comparative analysis of flirting behaviours between decades? Plus ca change….:-)

    • LWKMD, Noel πŸ™‚

      First, I must defend the honor of Mom-chaperones, as said flirting was occurring three feet away from me–so blatant I could see it while swimming without my glasses, haha! So, it is all fair game to write about it.

      As to memory lane–this interaction might have prompted a stroll or two and triggered a smile. Specifics are withheld to protect the innocent (or guilty). I hope my flirting, or “play with boys” as my daughter calls it, is a bit more subtle, but it very well might not be, depending on the extenuating circumstances. Et, oui, mon ami–Plus c’est la meme chose–Jean Baptiste’s words apply here in some ways πŸ™‚

      • jomul7 says:

        .Noel took the words out of my mouth, but I do agree with you now yes flirtation do happen at that age and as to whether they are guilty or innocent, that’s a whole other level of discussion. I do think no one gets smarter or more subtle at flirtation, anyone paying attention would always notice that.

  10. sweet and tender love

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