Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Poem Collection - MythOfHappiness - 6. The High Dive
It’s quiet today
No one but me
And the guy in the red shorts
It’s probably for the best
It might even make it easier
I swim a lap
And another
And a third
“Building my confidence”
Or at least that’s what I would say
After the last lap I stop,
Swim to the middle of the pool,
And float for a while on my back
Looking up at the clouds
Such a beautiful day to die
I’m kidding, of course
I’m not going to die
Unless you can die
Of being a big ‘ole puss
(And if you could, I’d already be dead)
I take a deep breath
And submerge
Floating just below the surface now
My eyes still open
And it’s beautiful
The light glimmers through
And everything is still
If only for a moment
And I finally make up my mind
I’m going to do it
I surface
And make my way to the edge
And pull myself out of the water
And walk my dripping self
All the way to the bottom of the ladder
And this time I climb
One rung
Two rung
Red rung
Blue rung
And now I’m at the top
And the water’s so far
I feel dizzy
For a second
But it passes
I can do this
I will do this
I start to run
Step, step, step,
Stop
I can’t do this
I won’t do this
I back away from the edge
But there’s someone there
Someone in red shorts
“Hey. I’ve seen you here before”
The wind is so cold up here
“You come up here, and you try to jump”
I’m shivering and the ground is so far away
“And every time you go back down”
He looks at me
And his eyes are so grey
Like the sky on a cloudy day
And he says
“Today, we jump”
So I turn around
And I walk to the edge of the board
And I turn back to him
And he smiles at me
And takes my hand
And I feel like I’m falling
And then we step off together
- 7
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Recommended Comments
Chapter Comments
-
Newsletter
Sign Up and get an occasional Newsletter. Fill out your profile with favorite genres and say yes to genre news to get the monthly update for your favorite genres.