Mike James: Swimming in the Rain

 
no lightning warns her from the river

so she swims on and on, across

the rain little more than drizzle

not as strong as the water she’s in

what she knows in the water

she knows with her body

when she swims she stretches

to her full, even length

the sound of her swimming doesn’t

rise above the sound of the river

if she were to cramp, cry out,

she’d not be heard or barely

still, she stays straight in her strokes

fear’s only part of what’s within her

when she swims she’s always alone

no one who watches is with her

—

Copyright 2016 Mike James