Dampening
Playing dead in the
seeming shallows
a man floats face down
estranged from the
crying children
and
bikini grandmas.
He looks at seaweed
through his snorkel mask,
lacy fronds
reaching up
to hold him in their midst.
Occasionally,
he plunges his head
into the water
feet sticking up like a frog’s
or
straight out into the air for everyone to see.
As his feet sink, his trunks
and the small of his back
resurface.
“I’m still here,”
they say.
Zora Patrick
Year 12
Wellington High School
