Poetry and All Things Alike

The History Of Swimming Pools

When Gaius Maecenas built the first artificial swimming pool, it was meant to be used for athletic training, nautical games, and military exercises.

However, it was not meant to be a place where children went to hide after their older cousin punched them in the face. So why was that the first place I turned to? The answer is actually pretty simple I guess; no one could see me cry underwater.

The hit was quite painful, located on my left cheek right below my eye. I could feel it swelling with each moment, and in each moment I could feel myself growing more and more deprived of oxygen.

But I could block people out underwater, I could hide from them. Let the chlorine burn my eyes rather than listen to my cousin's apologies, which I knew would only make me cry more.

The bottom of the swimming pool, comfort for the socially awkward at graduation parties. It could almost be a newspaper headline. This is where I sat for hours, coming up only when I could feel my lungs crushing like two sad little soda cans trapped under a boulder. Looking up into the midday summer sky, the sun would dance above my head until it shifted out of sight, only to return the next morning, where I would always be waiting for it's warmth to return.

Under the leaky hotel roof of the hotel, the pool at the Hilton soon became my best friend. Which Richie and Mimi got tired of me, and Emily and Billy forgot I was there, the water held me close. The muffled voices and drunk laughter would plunge into the water, but their speakers could never touch me at this depth. Maybe if I close my eyes, I could fall asleep on it's rough scratchy bottom, letting the water fill my body until someone finally notices that I'm lost. But I've found something much better at this depth.

The hot water bubbles against my skin, making me sweat, making my head spin. I am too young and not sober enough. I have never liked hot tubs the way I have swimming pools, and yet here I am. Alone with a boy. I reach for the Stella Artois in his hand, and take a swig. I smile at him, not sure of what I am doing here. All I am sure of, is that I don't know where any of my friends have gone, and that I feel sick. I close my eyes, hoping that the darkness will put and end to the dizziness. Through the bubbles, I feel his hand touch my knee and begin working it's way up and up and

In the dark night as the Earth's shadow passes the moon, I can't see anything. I can't breathe. They spit tobacco into the water, narrowly missing me each time. The spit shoots past me slowly, like bullets traveling through jello. They spit until mom comes and yells at them, and sends them to bed. Goosebumps cover my purple skin. I am alone. Or do I just wish that I was? Because I swear, in the dark of the lunar eclipse, I saw a pair of light eyes

And the milky way. The sky is littered with stars. From here, I can't tell which constellation is which. The patterns of the light change before my eyes, altering themselves like the designs in a kaleidoscope. I close my eyes, and realize the truth. It is all unrealistic. My expectations for the way I want things to be, and the way I want the world to work.

I cannot like my life in a swimming pool. It is time to wake up.

Because at the surface, I can hear everyone laughing, and I know I have no reason to hide anymore.