Laurel

18

At the Pool

“Are you watching? Are you ready?”
His grandmother nods in response.
“Okay.” He smiles

His lungs puff up as his
racing heart accelerates.
He plunges into six feet
of pure liquid sky.
His little body, immersed in the
shimmering chlorine blue, escapes
the grasp of the sweltering summer sun.
Bubbles swarm like bees, except instead of stings,
gentle kisses of their buoyant touch
soothe his sunburnt skin.

Finally out of this liquid sky, pops
up his bobbing head,
eagerly awaiting a response from
his grandmother.

“That was wonderful,” she says sincerely.
A phrase repeated a bajillion times but
never got old.

“Again?!”
“Yes, again.”

Out emerges his body with the pitter-patter
of dripping water and the sound of raisin
toes stepping on the sun-soaked concrete.

At the daunting edge
where this sun-soaked concrete
confronts the liquid sky,
his crinkled toes wiggle in anticipation as
he waits for the attention of
his grandmother.

“Are you watching? Are you ready?”
His grandmother nods in response.
“Okay.” He smiles