To my readers: Yes! I wrote a poem! Thanks to the encouragement of SOL Writers, I gave it a try.

She slides into the water

Gives one last pull on her cap

And a snap on the straps of her goggles.

The water stretches out in front of her

Clear and blue and shimmering.

Only two other people are in the pool

The sun is warm, the sky a bright blue

But a brisk  breeze shuffles the palm trees above her.

Did that deter the Sunday crowd?

She slides into the water

Adjusts to the familiar shock

Of the cool water on her warm skin.

One, two, three

Breathe to the right

One, two three

Breathe to the left.

Kick, kick, kick.

She gets into her rhythm. 

The body adjusts

She no longer feels cold.

The two other brave souls  leave,

And she is truly alone in her zone

Her cocoon.

On her turns, she hears 

The strains  of canned music 

The pop of pickleballs on the nearby court.

But during each length across the water

She only 

Hears the water flowing past her ears

Feels her heartbeat under her Speedo

Smells the chlorine

Sees the dapple of sunlight on the pool’s bottom.

One, two, three

Breathe to the right

One, two three

Breathe to the left.

Kick, kick, kick.

Is this what it felt like floating

In her mother’s womb?

Weightless, warm, loved?

The world is left behind.

One cannot check off items 

on a massive to-do list while swimming.

Even the Apple watch, which counts her laps,

was left behind on the bathroom counter

Next to a tube of sunscreen.

Breathe to the right.

One, two, three

Breathe to the left

One, two three.

Kick, kick, kick.

Clothes wait  in the dryer;

Dishes need to be put back on on their shelves

An unwritten story demands to be typed

Letters and postcards and emails need to be written.

But for now, she is free.

One, two, three

Breathe to the right

One, two three

Breathe to the left.

Kick, kick, kick.