Diving

The school crowd often socialized

Around our parent's swimming pools.

Most were tanned deck loiterers,

But a few were diving fools.

I was the one who placed one toe,

Into every neighborhood pond;

Envying those taking all the risks

Living life on the edge and beyond.

If life “Was a box of chocolates”,

I sampled one piece in the box...

Never consuming the entire pound,

Or spending a week in detox.

Now that I'm in my sixties,

I think of my dead friends at night;

Diving headfirst into unknown pools,

Unfettered and free of fright.

I don't think a jury could tell me,

Who lived the best quality time...

Those friends who sampled everything,

Or me who found caution sublime?