You know it’s a long time

when they can’t remember

W          H          E          N

It was severely impromptu

but

I went swimming on my day off

with two of my granddaughters

I’ve done it before.     .     .

waaaaaaaaaaay before any of us could actually

RE-MEMBER

the last time it took place

S W I M M I N G

and it was

m           a           g           i           c           a           l

I made a magnificent discovery:

In mere seconds

I lost well over 50 years

by jumping in the water

splashing

dunking

throwing kids through the air

doing my classic version of

S   H   A   M   U

by laying back in the water and pounding my leg down

to make a huge splash and small tidal wave

Other kids were joining in

splashing

dunking

wanting to get thrown through the air

and
yes

S     H     A     M     U ‘ E     D

I was

literally. . .

quite the

S          P          L          A          S          H

As I got out of the pool during

“R     E     S     T          T     I     M     E”

it was the years that dripped off of me

more than the water droplets.

I was suddenly 8 again

and as I  SHAMU’ED the kids

and became the hated

POOL SHARK

my heart beat as a little boy

that shivered under the

ice-cold blast of a water hose

and begged for a BIG PRETZEL

and a KLONDIKE BAR

like all of the kids did around the

s n a c k   b a r.

It reminded me of one of my favorite poems

by James Kavanaugh

LITTLE BOY I MISS YOU

Little boy, I miss you, with your sudden smile and

Your ignorance of pain

You walked in Life and devoured it–without anything

But misty goals to keep you company

Your heart beat mightily when you chased frogs

And captured one too big for a single hand

You wandered with friends in quiet woods and were

Startled by a shuffling porcupine 

Matches were a mystery that lighted fires and

Chewed up leaves in savage hunger

There was no time for meaning–a marshmallow gave it

On a sharpened stick

A jackknife in your pocket provided comfort when your

Friends were gone

A flower in the woods hidden by an aging,

Shriveled log

A dog who danced and licked at your fingers and 

Chewed your jeans

A game of football you didn’t expect

A glass of cider, a cricket’s cry

When did you lose your eyes and ears, when did taste

buds cease to tremble;

Whence this sullenness, this mounting fear, this quarrel

With life–demanding meaning?

The maddening search is leisure’s bonus–the Pain

that forbids you be a boy!

I lost well over 50 plus years in mere moments.        .         .

hoping that it takes longer.      .     .

much longer

for it all to seep

back into place again.        .        .

as it always

d  o  e  s

Until then.          .          .

C            A            N            N            O            N            B            A            L            L