Boy Diving Through Moss

A boy with joy and fear inside 
stood on the plank 
above the pond. 
He sensed the cold, dark water 
underneath, 
and, daring, 
was aware of that 
which he must do. 
He dived and fell 
and felt the wetted cold. 
He felt the mosses part 
and give his plunging body 
to the depths. 
And on the edge of there 
he bent his back 
and forced the arced re-entry up, 
and, shattering the surface, 
took the first moist breath of air 
and felt the new pure light 
about his head. 

Oh, sweetest grin! 
To know the leap from life 
through death 
and into life again.