Drowned Wife

by Timothy Strange

When I was 6 years old
I saw my future wife
at the bottom of a swimming pool:

Someone pushed me in
so I could get to her;

flailing,

falling,

drowning,

I couldn’t reach her,
my eyes burning from chlorine.

I thought she was hiding
under the diving board.

But when I crawled back out
of the water, she was gone.

I could hear that kid
who pushed me in say,

“I thought you could swim.”