28 or 36
Sixty-four lengths to one mile.
Seems a lot, but thirty-two are possible.
I reach rhythm by the end
of length one. Breaststroke, imperfect,
slightly asymmetric, steady, the face
submerging as the arms advance:
spent breath, bubbles bouncing off my eardrums,
mantra in a universal tongue.
Empty mind, then lines from poets, shopping list,
hinted cramp in an instep a shadow
diverted, staying distant if I don’t
relax the arch. The asymmetry develops.
Tuesday? Must be, I think. Is the library closed,
or is that Wednesdays now?
Fourteen lengths, maybe, or sixteen, or twelve.
The cramp-threat passes.
White tiles float beneath, their mysterious slope
to the deep-end an irrelevance.
Time suspends, and I settle,
four and a quarter lengths spent anticipating
wine from Mendoza, red Andean wine invading
my one-sixty-fourth-of-a-mile world
till kids block the lane.
Tread water for a moment, recover rhythm then
a length of conscience about unwritten letters.
Keep swimming, slowing.
Half a mile today. More or less.
Page(s) 47
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