Lifeguard

There’s only one swimmer in the lap lane, who I know isn’t going to drown.
The pool is only four feet deep, and he seems confident in the water,
Strong arms cutting through the lane like two serpents,
Locked in a race for the edge of the pool.
There’s no need for a lifeguard, but here I am.
If there were kids in the pool there would be two of us,
If there were lessons today there would be three,
And if the pool were full of patrons, there would be seven of us on duty.
But there is only one swimmer in the lap lane, and so there is one lifeguard.
I know he won’t drown, but still I watch him,
Admiring the confidence with which he splits the lane,
As if with each stroke he returns to an old friend.
He’s the only swimmer in the lap lane, and I know he isn’t going to drown,
But in my mind I make a promise to him;
“I’ll keep you safe, I promise you. You will not drown today.”
Even though it could just as easily be me who drowns.
At any moment I could slip on the wet tile and crack my skull open on the edge of the pool,
Turning the water red with my blood and brains and viscera.
But there is one swimmer in the lap lane,
And so there is one lifeguard,

And neither will drown today.

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