Be more mermaid
Be more mermaid
Today is warm up day for NaPoWriMo (which begins properly tomorrow) and their prompt is to imagine yourself as a historical or mythical figure. I went for a swim this morning, so imagining myself as a mermaid seemed appropriate.
When I swim I usually concentrate on counting lengths, watch the time, get anxious about holding up the other people in my lane. Today it's Mothers day, and most of the swimmers must have been visiting or being visited, as there were very few people in the pool. This meant I could concentrate on the physical sensaton of swimming, and let my imagination turn me into a mermaid.
As I slip into the water
My misshapen toes, my stiff and stabbing hip
Become an irrelevance, melt into flippers
My fingers into paddles.
I push off and take my time
Each stroke a benediction,
Streaming a bow wave behind me.
Breaths keep time with each stroke
Pulling and pushing, like waves against the shoreline.
Lane marker ropes and floats become fishing lines, buoys,
The shrieks of children, seagulls,
My hair fans out like seaweed
Above the black tiles, rippling like kelp.
The peace, the calm of measured strokes
Becomes a meditation, floating me away
Into a mermaid reverie.
When more swimmers arrive
My legs cleave to climb the steps, back onto land.
Showering away the chlorine, I sing as I comb my hair
Dreaming of salt sea waves.
© Copyright 2019. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved
Today is warm up day for NaPoWriMo (which begins properly tomorrow) and their prompt is to imagine yourself as a historical or mythical figure. I went for a swim this morning, so imagining myself as a mermaid seemed appropriate.
When I swim I usually concentrate on counting lengths, watch the time, get anxious about holding up the other people in my lane. Today it's Mothers day, and most of the swimmers must have been visiting or being visited, as there were very few people in the pool. This meant I could concentrate on the physical sensaton of swimming, and let my imagination turn me into a mermaid.
As I slip into the water
My misshapen toes, my stiff and stabbing hip
Become an irrelevance, melt into flippers
My fingers into paddles.
I push off and take my time
Each stroke a benediction,
Streaming a bow wave behind me.
Breaths keep time with each stroke
Pulling and pushing, like waves against the shoreline.
Lane marker ropes and floats become fishing lines, buoys,
The shrieks of children, seagulls,
My hair fans out like seaweed
Above the black tiles, rippling like kelp.
The peace, the calm of measured strokes
Becomes a meditation, floating me away
Into a mermaid reverie.
When more swimmers arrive
My legs cleave to climb the steps, back onto land.
Showering away the chlorine, I sing as I comb my hair
Dreaming of salt sea waves.
© Copyright 2019. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved
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