The
Lifeguard
Lifeguard
The
leap
of
a
fish
from
its
shadow
Makes
the
whole
lake
instantly
tremble.
With
my
foot
on
the
water,
I
feel
The
moon
outside
Take
on
the
utmost
of
its
power.
I
rise
and
go
our
through
the
boats.
I
set
my
broad
sole
upon
silver,
On
the
skin
of
the
sky,
on
the
moonlight,
Stepping
outward
from
earth
onto
water
In
quest
of
the
miracle
This
village
of
children
believed
That
I
could
perform
as
I
dived
For
one
who
had
sunk
from
my
sight.
I
saw
his
cropped
haircut
go
under.
I
leapt,
and
my
steep
body
flashed
Once,
in
the
sun.
Dark
drew
all
the
light
from
my
eyes.
Like
a
man
who
explores
his
death
By
the
pull
of
his
slow-‐moving
shoulders,
I
hung
head
down
in
the
cold,
Wide-‐eyed,
contained,
and
alone
Among
the
weeds,
And
my
fingertips
turned
into
stone
From
clutching
immovable
blackness.
Time
after
time
I
leapt
upward
Exploding
in
breath,
and
fell
back
From
the
change
in
the
children's
faces
At
my
defeat.
Beneath
them
I
swam
to
the
boathouse
With
only
my
life
in
my
arms
To
wait
for
the
lake
to
shine
back
At
the
risen
moon
with
such
power
That
my
steps
on
the
light
of
the
ripples
Might
be
sustained.
Beneath
me
is
nothing
but
brightness
Like
the
ghost
of
a
snowfield
in
summer.
As
I
move
toward
the
center
of
the
lake,
Which
is
also
the
center
of
the
moon,
I
am
thinking
of
how
I
may
be
The
savior
of
one
Who
has
already
died
in
my
care.
The
dark
trees
fade
from
around
me.
The
moon's
dust
hovers
together.
I
call
softly
out,
and
the
child's
Voice
answers
through
blinding
water.
Patiently,
slowly,
He
rises,
dilating
to
break
The
surface
of
stone
with
his
forehead.
He
is
one
I
do
not
remember
Having
ever
seen
in
his
life.
The
ground
I
stand
on
is
trembling
Upon
his
smile.
I
wash
the
black
mud
from
my
hands.
On
a
light
given
off
by
the
grave
I
kneel
in
the
quick
of
the
moon
At
the
heart
of
a
distant
forest
And
hold
in
my
arms
a
child
Of
water,
water,
water.