Pooled

 the chlorine aroma mingled

with heavy coconut tropical scents

of tanning oils and sunblock

and further was a wave of fruity taffies,

sugary powders and chocolate bars

even the wet hot pavement emitted

its own odor into the whole mix

the whole mix that only existed

in this sun bleached biosphere

of the summer public pool

where it seemed to erase boundaries

that once kept certain children

away from other certain children

whether it be age, class, or other

none of that seemed to matter 

in the cool, chemically treated waves

lifeguards and swim team coaches

headed up this family of the wet

and the major goal throughout all

the generations that had swam

throughout the many summers

is to graduate from the kiddie "puddle"

to the, gulp, taller than a giraffe high dive

and everyone mourned when new regulations

were the death of that fearful feat

for the mysterious depths of the deep end

were mysteriously no longer deep enough

who knew a concrete bowl filled in

with what everyone is teeming with already

would wash away the masks we otherwise would wear