splash

July at the water park

three flights of stairs

open

so you can see to the concrete

the tops of the heads below

red shoulders

white tan lines

hair ties, hats, beads and baubles

and your own bare feet climbing up

at the top I'm surrounded

a gaggle

a gaggle of children with a view of the golf course grown over

all the golfers grandchildren are with me at the top of the slides

personalities shining through

at 7, 8, 11

i at only 5’4 am a giant in their midst

they are edging me quite close to the safety bars

a future CEO argues about the speed of the different slides

compared to the wait time

a humanitarian smiles without her front teeth and pulls her friend up by the suit strap

I hear a noise like an ill donkey

and see a boy look to the sky

arms stretched behind

braying into a red laughing face

so many scrawny limbs reach for hands

a small girl in front turns

looking for her sister

she’s next

she says shes scaweed

It doesn’t matter

your next

and the crowd behind will trample you

the heat bares down

gripping our exposed necks

one by one they grab the bar and hang

feet first down the chute

till the lifeguard blows!

they let go and plummet

one by one by one

they all fall screaming

unsplash Konrad Bürden