Pool* Poem by Kirby Wright

Your pool’s a blueprint for logic, earth
Measured, dug up rectangular, hauled away
To fill other holes. Pay dirt? Pool
Lacks sufficient horizon. It’s safe,
Safe to look on water contained by tile,
Safer than ocean stretching and bending acres
Into dark blue futures. Formula for success:
Detach enough tap water, shape it, heat it,
Chlorinate. And don’t forget circulation.
Depth deepens, registers on sky blue tile as
Black numbers. Chrome ladders dip.
Pool’s no threat to ocean—shoreline doesn’t
Shift, no rips, lacks currents to drag you
Places you’d rather not go. Pool sign warns,
No Lifeguard On Duty. Life preserving ring
Preserves what wants to float, yet lacks
Hand to make the toss, administer basic life
Support. Pepsi machine stands guard in lobby,
But only saves from thirst, never drowning.
Man dives into deep end, swallowed by water,
Gets splash where once was thud. Ripples make
Pool active, waves flood gutters. Makes
You forget displaced earth, dirt born here,
A field that once belonged.

*POOL won the Horizon Magazine Poetry Prize.