Friendly Fire.

Swimming again today
mid morning
with everyone
a colony, a cluster bomb of
screeching kids
scattering shards of happiness
that lodge like shrapnel
under my skin.

I watch my son
fingers spread like starfish
sprawled on the hot sand
cheek to cheek
eyes closed,
antennae quivering,
tuned to
his personal frequency
grain by grain.

Back home 
my bathtub is a halfshell and
I am Aphrodite
with kelp hair and boardshorts
risen from the rock platforms
to sing my heart out
through the open window.