Pool Party
Pool Party - Mir 6/15/2015
It was a birthday party
by the community pool
a pool so shallow, an adult couldn't swin
yet there she was a little girl
floating in slow motion
under the surface
and above the bottom
limbs swaying with the waves
ears deaf to the noise
taking in water
for who knows how long
...
I saw the father
doing chest compressions
blowing air into her mouth
between screaming her name
gutteral, urgent, desperate imploring screams
over and over
as hypnotized we watched
everyone else seemingly on 911
...this went on for an eternity.
Phone: Sir what is the name of the apartment complex?
I don't know...it's where this girl is drowning
Sir, what is her condition?
I don't know...lifeless
Sir, who is attending to her?
Jesus! I don't know...don't you have a drone overhead when you need one
Sir, what is your name?
seriously?
Sir, what is your phone number?
Really, you don't have caller id?
...
a dripping wet hulk of a man continues chest compression
on a little body in a purple bathing suit
the air he blows into her
fills her like a balloon, grotesque
she's foaming at the mouth
a sky blue bathing suit with much lighter skin cradles her
its gone too long
oh my god
i am seeing death
most horribly administered
the cruel wrenching of his soul from that desperate man
i want to go over and push him aside
I had CPR training a long time ago
but it wasn't infant cpr
what if he really knows what he's doing
and I take over and don't.
what if doesn't and
I do
and I don't take over.
...
30 eyes stare down
I go where we go when there is no place else to go
to God
to Prayer
there is no master but the one God
there is no determinant but him
there is none to turn to but You...O master
help!
help this father not die today
not this way
help this girl wake up and save her father
Oh! what regret he manifests, what sorrow
what debilitating solitude,
what visceral pain
what desperation.
...
Water and food flows outward
from her nose
a torrent..so much water
more that the little vessel can hold
and then the tiny purple swimsuit twitches
a little inflation
a deflation
breathing
choking
expulsion
inhalation
coughing
vomiting
beautiful beautiful vomit
life restoring vomit
vomit never looked so good
never felt so right
the purple bathing suit starts to fade
begins to turn pink
like a chemical reaction
the purple balloon deflating
a pink normality returning
one breath for the little one
hope for these 30 onlookers
hope that they can be normal again
...and
then the punctuation
one long deep cry, a celebration, a relief
tears
heartache
relief and yearning
gratitude...infinite gratitude
gratitude to the maker
for one more chance to re-be a parent
to re-be a father
to be alive.
....
Thank you dear God
for saving this girl
and thank you little girl
for saving that man.
...
I have never believed reports of people
coming back from the dead.
I just witnessed two in one moment!
It was a birthday party
by the community pool
a pool so shallow, an adult couldn't swin
yet there she was a little girl
floating in slow motion
under the surface
and above the bottom
limbs swaying with the waves
ears deaf to the noise
taking in water
for who knows how long
...
I saw the father
doing chest compressions
blowing air into her mouth
between screaming her name
gutteral, urgent, desperate imploring screams
over and over
as hypnotized we watched
everyone else seemingly on 911
...this went on for an eternity.
Phone: Sir what is the name of the apartment complex?
I don't know...it's where this girl is drowning
Sir, what is her condition?
I don't know...lifeless
Sir, who is attending to her?
Jesus! I don't know...don't you have a drone overhead when you need one
Sir, what is your name?
seriously?
Sir, what is your phone number?
Really, you don't have caller id?
...
a dripping wet hulk of a man continues chest compression
on a little body in a purple bathing suit
the air he blows into her
fills her like a balloon, grotesque
she's foaming at the mouth
a sky blue bathing suit with much lighter skin cradles her
its gone too long
oh my god
i am seeing death
most horribly administered
the cruel wrenching of his soul from that desperate man
i want to go over and push him aside
I had CPR training a long time ago
but it wasn't infant cpr
what if he really knows what he's doing
and I take over and don't.
what if doesn't and
I do
and I don't take over.
...
30 eyes stare down
I go where we go when there is no place else to go
to God
to Prayer
there is no master but the one God
there is no determinant but him
there is none to turn to but You...O master
help!
help this father not die today
not this way
help this girl wake up and save her father
Oh! what regret he manifests, what sorrow
what debilitating solitude,
what visceral pain
what desperation.
...
Water and food flows outward
from her nose
a torrent..so much water
more that the little vessel can hold
and then the tiny purple swimsuit twitches
a little inflation
a deflation
breathing
choking
expulsion
inhalation
coughing
vomiting
beautiful beautiful vomit
life restoring vomit
vomit never looked so good
never felt so right
the purple bathing suit starts to fade
begins to turn pink
like a chemical reaction
the purple balloon deflating
a pink normality returning
one breath for the little one
hope for these 30 onlookers
hope that they can be normal again
...and
then the punctuation
one long deep cry, a celebration, a relief
tears
heartache
relief and yearning
gratitude...infinite gratitude
gratitude to the maker
for one more chance to re-be a parent
to re-be a father
to be alive.
....
Thank you dear God
for saving this girl
and thank you little girl
for saving that man.
...
I have never believed reports of people
coming back from the dead.
I just witnessed two in one moment!
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