Willard & Maple
The Diver Brandyn Johnson
Hands in prayer, she closes her eyes: To crush this dive, to hit like tiptoes, to ripple barely, to surface drowned by cheers. One part jump three parts fall she tumbles till the yoyo string snaps, unfolding to knife the water precisely: a silenced-bullet gulp. Then slow motion in the soft, blue belly scored by her own heartbeat. She breaks slickheaded ascending the ribs of the ladder out, then back up another ladder. Hands in prayer, she closes her eyes.
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