A leap off the concrete

      Transitions into a graceful dive.

Thin, freckled hands

Smoothly        separate           the pool’s surface.

      Breath bubbles out of my nose,

      Hair flows with the currents in the water

As I swim back to the surface-

      Aiming for the cloud-dotted, pale blue sky.

Resituating my goggles, holding my breath,

      And then sliding under the waves.

Slowly gliding along the bottom of the sea,

      Running my fingers through the sand,

                    Searching for seashells-

                                    And dodging crabs-

In an effort to see and find as much as possible

      before shooting up above the water,

            Gasping for air.

Feeling more at home in a pool

      Or, truly,

Under and among the waves

      Than in a chair,

Happier with my feet in the sand

      Than tangled in grass.

The water’s embrace distracting me

             from my love of the sky.

Next Chapter: Serenity