Grace told her friend Liz, “It’s senior year, wouldn’t it be great to take our pictures under the pier”

So they went to the strip, to the beach where that long boardwalk stretches out

Liz said they didn’t have permission to be around the pilings

But Grace was smiling

“We’ll use our senior clout”

The girls waded in the blue waters beneath the wood overhead

They posed for the imaginary camera

The pilings echoed behind them out into the bay

The pier above provided some shade

“Let’s swim to the end,” said Liz

But Grace told her, “You’re crazy, didn’t you hear what happened to those kids?”

The posted signs warned

“No swimming at sunset,” “no swimming around the pier”

Liz’s mom had told her, “Don’t wear jewelry in the water

That evening was a perfect storm

Liz looked out at the bay, how it called her

She had a swimsuit under her dress

She stripped down, clasped the necklace on her chest

She paddled out in the choppy waves

“You know there’s sharks out there!” cried Grace

“You’re swimming to your grave!”

“We’re seniors, we’re invincible!” replied Liz

In no time, it seemed the sky got dull

Grace watched from the shore with the gulls

Her friend swam and swam

Grace looked to see fisherman on the pier casting their lines

It was perfect time

She looked back to her friend who flailed

Liz bobbed in the water near the end of the pier

A piercing scream clipped Grace’s ear

Her friend was in trouble

Look! A gray fin

Zooming out and in

Grace took off, up the sand to the pier – she ran its length

Then jumped overboard

She swam with all her strength

She blasted at the shark with her fists

At last, it seemed to relent

Someone from above threw over a line

Lifted those two girls out of the water in time

With a sliver of sunlight

They dangled over the waters

A crowd hovered round

Liz said, “I don’t know why they bothered”

But strangers had captured it

Senior photos of those two girls in the throes

Battling a shark and waves

They’d made it out unscathed

Grace realized that the signs were right

And Liz – that she only had so much might

But they got their wish

Their senior pictures beneath the pier were dynamite