Cannonball

I suppose, we had expected it to be sunny.
We could feel our skin prickle standing
Above the abandoned swimming pool.
The breeze quietly belted against our bare legs and stomachs.
Our bikinis did little to guard against the February chill.

We bent our knees and leapt.
My chin hugged my thighs and my arms wrapped around my shins.
My eyes closed.

We hit with a loud “splat!”
The cold quickly covered our heads as we sunk in,
And the water lashed our tense necks-

And my body unfolded from its pre-collision position
Upon immersion, and my eyes opened wide to see what my palms
Already felt and what began to
Tickle my startled skin.

We burst through the surface,
Taking a deep breath and looking for each other,
To see the other’s reaction to
Our gross misjudgment.

If we were idealists

Remember when you were in a band
And we thought smoking cigarettes was cool-
Because it was cool.
And the lightening lit up my room so brightly
That I could see it through my closed eyes-
And I laughed as I laid in bed remembering our
matching pea costumes-
I can hear whistling and thunder,
All the way across the country from you
Years and years away from that corner and those green suits.
My basil plant is still alive- sitting at the stormy window-
A first for me. And you are living and happy and I am happy too.