The First Full Length
Dec 14 2020
I do the first full length submerged.
Before my goggles have fogged over,
so the regular parallel rows
of small blue tiles
are in perfect focus
as they steadily unscroll
beneath my clear-eyed gaze,
looking down
from effortless height
as if in flight
through thin transparent air.
Measuring out my breath
as a frugal string of bubbles
rises overhead.
That first quick plunge
into the cool water
feels cathartic,
all the angular sounds
reflecting from the hard glazed deck
and bare concrete walls
are mercifully muffled,
my protesting body
unburdened of its weight.
I push off
with a sleek sensation of speed,
reach ahead with my arms
feel my back extend.
The movement of water
against smooth naked skin,
the well-protected space
of my own fenced-off lane.
All it takes
is a single length
and I instantly shed the world,
taking improbable flight
in this safe pelagic domain.
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