Small Boy on the Dock

As if falling, his knees
bent in prayer, arms flung
back, palms up, ready
to wing into sunset-silked
water. Father’s “little angel,”
fearless of unknowns. Sharks
wouldn’t discourage him.
Secret guardians by table
and edge of dock, sentinels
to umbrella him—angels
in the shadows of the folds,
watch, ready to swoop him
to safe haven.

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After a photograph by Ville Miettinen: ‘One more dive tonight’
—A kid jumping into an infinity pool as the sun sets
on Dhigufinolu Island on South Male' Atoll