Lantern-lit nights
The sting and scratch of a thousand pin-point bites
Thick mosquito swarms
Three other siblings stumbling in the dark
Checking the riverbank lines
The thrill of the tell-tale tug of a catfish hooked

But boys aren’t supposed to be scared
of slime and scales or mud and messes

Boys aren’t supposed to be play with Barbies
or spend more time with their mother and sisters

But I prefer them to the savages