Floating in the shallow end

of the kiddie pool

upon an inflatible shit emoji,

when a woman I recognize

from my daughters school

floats on by upon

an inflatible unicorn

and says to me,

“lekker heh.”

I notice

the chop shop tattoo

on her lower back

that she probably got

some 20 years ago

and smile and as

she drifts on by

then say,

“ja, wij zijn zekker

mazellaars.”

As all the little kids splash

and scream and thrash

in the chlorinated water

and my daughter is yelling at me

“Poppa, kijk! Poppa kijk, Poppa kijk wat ik kan!”

and I ‘m watching her splash water

in her own face and I’m laughing

then get to thinking how

some of us reveal

that much more

about ourselves

when

the temperature rises

and the schoolplein is

geruiled for the

local swimming pool.

When some heavyset kid

does a cannonball right

infront of my face,

which

gets me

to wonder

how recyclable

any of

this inflatible shit

is anyway.