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
