Training done with and the pool deserted
I took a deep breath and exhaling
cornered myself in the deadly quiet of water.
Its emptiness, the bright blue distance
like nothing you might imagine.
I sat still, a sluggish thinker
the oxygen curdling in my adult lungs.

All the time I was down there
I thought of you in your darkness,
what you might one day achieve.
Feeling the animal efficiency
of your multiplying cells hunting me.
Thinking that when I got home
I must tell your mother how grateful I am.

December 2010