Dive (A Found Poem)

By: Anastasia Yu

(Words derived from the book ‘All the Bright Places’ by Jennifer Niven)

I am on the highest branch.

All the colors

Are at full brightness.

No interruptions,

No noise.

I like the feeling of being awake

When no one else is.

Below me,

The water is strangely clear

And well, blue.

Is today the day?

And if not today —

when?

Maybe this time I’ll do it;

let the air carry me away.

For a minute, I can feel it:

I am weightless and free.

Nothing and no one to fear

Not even myself.

I stand.

I balance.

I dive.

Through the air,

Into the water.

It is surprisingly warm.

I close my eyes and push myself,

Down, down, down,

One arm out like Superman.

I feel the strain of my lungs

They begging for air

But I keep going,

Diving deeper,

Where the water feels heaviest.

I open my eyes.

Below me, the black of where

the bottom should be

but isn’t;

Above me, the light,

very faint

but still there.

I close my eyes.

And push myself up.

Image: Blue Lake Tall Mountain Wallpaper [Photograph; jpg]. (n.d.). https://images.app.goo.gl/9ZA3CgG51cAGc89j9