Poolside

Three rings - red, yellow, green -

navigate, spinning

clockwise and counterclockwise,

intent on winning

this race sponsored by summer's

leaf-heavy wind and shallow

wind-speckled water.

See how they veer and follow

each other's sudden

petal-strewn wake.

The ball - watchful, important -

circles to make

its survey of events,

stern referee

bobbing orange and white:

so much to see,

so much at stake, so much

in all this blue

it hardly knows which way to turn

or what to do.