Drowning at the Pool Party for Lifeguards by Timothy Martin

Drowning at the Pool Party for Lifeguards visits the intersection of the broadly historical and the deeply personal, and explores how each works to inform the other. Mingling with poems about the Nazi resistance, World War I, and Civil War burials are verses about personal relationships both successful and otherwise, and a number of other subjects.

A reticent father, a romantically grounded farmer, and the avaricious widow of a seventeenth-century adventurer are a few of the characters and voices that are heard from. Even the mother of Death herself makes an appearance. By turns serious and playful, the poems suggest a glimpse of who we have been and who are. We are authors of broken hearts and botched love affairs, as well as breathtakingly courageous acts in defense of those who otherwise have none.