Waiting My Turn at the High Dive by Peter Huggins

I have to be the oldest

Person in line. The kids look

At me with smiles

On their faces, ask me if I need

Help up the ladder, laugh.

I’ll manage, I say, and head up

The ladder one step at a time

Until I reach the top.

Alone, the pool before me,

I keep my eyes on the board,

Step into space, twist, turn,

Free from that which binds me,

Slice through the air

Into the water,

Push off from the bottom,

Rise and breathe again.

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Peter Huggins is the author of seven books of poems, including the forthcoming Small Mercies. South and Audubon’s Engraver were shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award. He's also published three books of fiction for children; Trosclair and the Alligator appeared on the PBS show Between the Lions. A recipient of a Literature Fellowship in Poetry from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, he taught for thirty-one years in the English Department at Auburn University.