Swimming the River

Contributor: John Swain

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Swimming the river again
with the osprey, my sister,
as a bolt of deer fords the shallow.
The sun of summer light
belies the strength of the currents
turning me on a twisted line.
Delight of the water, her body
wet with mystery
before my giving surrender.
Longing of the formless
takes the shape of the drowned
in a blue confluence.
I want to be let go
freed to the indifferent deep,
knowing all she knows.


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John Swain lives in Louisville, Kentucky. Red Paint Hill published his collection, Ring the Sycamore Sky.