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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Seahorse” Down in the Dirt, v194 (the 4/22 Issue) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology The Ice that Was the Down in the Dirt Jan.-April 2022 issues collection book		get the 420 page Jan.-April 2022 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Couples Skate

Victoria Elizabeth Ruwi

His arm enveloped my gawky freckled frame
even before Couples Only was announced:
Around and round and round we went forever
seeing the faces of other seventh-grade girls
who had to stay off the ice unless some boy,
any boy asked them to skate. But I had Ben,
the boy I met at the dance last week—a boy
two inches taller and two grades above me.
Ben, unzipped jacket flaring, canine teeth
slightly longer than his other teeth, smiling
as our blades swirled ice past fearful
faces of seventh- and eighth-grade boys
staring at the sidelined girls waiting for them.
We watched our separate breathing
mingle in the space between our bodies
where our arms were swinging,
where our fingers locked together,
where we wished we could be.
He rewrapped his arm around me,
his hand finding its way through the layers
of ski jacket, wool sweater and cotton
turtleneck to squeeze my warm bared waist
Coupleless skaters returned to the ice
as Ben led me behind the soda machine,
leaned all of his taut body and mouth
into me, giving me my first taste
of testosterone driven tongue.

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