Dive

it's back open again.
Lifeguard gave the 'all clear'.
pool-boy hadn't seen
a kid in cutoffs horsing around.

summer sun saturates skin.
I like to float, but forgot how to swim.

looks good, I'm aware;
pulsing solution, alive,
splashing the toes waiting
out on the tiles.

does the chlorine sting?
a few rub their eyes,
yet nostrils aren't singed.

Someone filled this void with water,
though I'm sure some of it is made of
tears and sweat.
Rules are clear, and yet
it's here to enjoy.

trunks are on, and chest is bare.
I walk up to the edge, and ask
a question I am not first to pose:
slip in quietly and adapt,
or grab knees and cannonball?