skimming the pool

you can't save
everyone she
says while skimming
the pool of leaves
with a long silver
pole and a green
blue net attached.
the water is barely
rippled as she
lifts and strains
the soft yellow
and red leaves
that float like
flowers on the blue.
not everyone even
wants to be saved,
she continues. some
want to sink, and
take you with them,
misery, of course,
as the cliche goes
loving company.
i think about what
she says. it's
the kind of
conversation that
needs no response
no answer. we are
saying things, like
the leaves that twirl
and tumble off
the trees in a gentle
dance of fall, both
natural and true.