Six-year-old Lane calls across the pool,
“Mom, watch!”
His 11-year-old sister Grace echoes,
“Watch ME, Mom!”

And at the shaded end of my niece’s
pool, their Mom watches—this woman
who styles my niece’s hair—along
with her mother, as my sister and I,

old enough to be these kids’ grandmas,
work one-on-one with each child,
seeing what they can do in water
sparkling under a July morning sky.

Every time one of the kids calls, “Mom!”
I think, You watchin’, Ma?
Your girls are back in the pool
givin’ swimmin’ lessons a good

half century after we spent our
summers doing so—first as water
safety aides, then as full-fledged
instructors, working with all manner

of humanity, from babies to toddlers,
adolescents to teens, girls on the synchro
team, even with sweet-faced adults
with Down syndrome.

It’s been a minute, I realize, taking
a deep breath before tucking
into a surface dive to head for
the bottom of the pool,

feeling my fingers connect with
a weighted purple plastic ring
that our beginner swimmers are
not quite ready to retrieve.

But look at these two on kickboards,
gaining strength and confidence
with every lap across the pool,
Grace remembering not to plug

her nose but blow out bubbles
upon dunking herself, Lane doing
his version of a cannonball, feet
first, an easy touch, bouncing up,

as we instructors look on, near
enough to help, but far enough for
them to learn to trust the support
of water, of their people,

as we hear far-away echoes of ours,
the parents who put us in pools,
who urged us through swimming
lessons that we later taught,

who put us on water skis in a big
lake, who volunteered at our swim
meets—Mom with her referee’s
whistle on the side of the pool—

their “atta girl”s filling my ears as
my little sister-now-grandma swims
alongside a boy kicking his way across
the pool, as I dive again for the bottom,

as I push off, looking up into the blue.

•••

In memory of our mother, Darlene Haag,
on what would have been her 95th birthday.
Thanks for everything, Ma.

And thanks to my sister, Donna Just, and her daughter
Lauren Just Giel (along with husband Gerald Giel
and children Henry and Rosie) for hosting
the swimmin’ lessons. So much fun!