[Poem] Dead Man Float

Poetry by JB Minton

Dead Man Float by JB Minton - Photoshop Beta AI

Bubbles scrape the chin.
It's how this begins.

I don't know why I feel the need to die
in the pool.
But I float and forgive
the water for moving me where it wills.

I once caused a panic in a public swim,
a young child floating face down,
seeking freedom from the noise 
above the water.

I was obsessed with practicing for death,
a fear of the thing driven by control of the thing.
All of it a murky illusion,
submerged beneath the waves
of adults screaming for help.