The shark is in a plastic wine glass
being held over the deep end of a swimming pool.
The show is about to start.
The shark knows what to do:
let its body fall when tipped towards the water,
sink to the bottom, wait, forget it has fins
strong enough to swim away and be forgotten,
wait, wait for a seven-year-old smile
to dive in with goggles, hold it in his hands,
lift it up into the sun and rescue it
in a way he doesn’t understand.

© Carl Burkitt 2023