Ask HN: Better language than C for playing with pointers

In over 20 years of software development, I've only worked with languages that don't use pointers. Each time I delve into pointers in C, I run into problems referencing and de-referencing, passing them around, etc. I understand pointers well enough. I've read countless tutorials and really do understand them at the machine level.

Can anyone recommend a language other than C that uses pointers, so that I might understand actual manipulation better? I'm not interested in a discussion of why they are bad and how we should use Rust. This is purely for my own education to get past this weird block I seem to have when I try to use them in real applications.