(74) May 8, 2010: The Swimmer

THE SWIMMER

The naked swimmer backstrokes up the bay,
At peace with all the sky and all the sea,
In deep repose upon the surface sway.

Discretely bundled on a rock the small cache
Of clothes implies a comeback guarantee,
As the naked swimmer backstrokes up the bay.

A figure on the cliff not far away
Commands a view of the swimmer pure and free,
In deep repose upon the surface sway.

The water’s arms still warm at end of day
Suggest delirious eternity,
As the naked swimmer backstrokes up the bay.

The figure climbing down evokes dismay,
And waving calls the swimmer, with a windswept plea,
In deep repose upon the surface sway.

Then dropping down as if to pray,
The figure falls in fierce calamity,
As the naked swimmer backstrokes up the bay
In deep repose upon the surface sway.

D. Edgar Lamp

www.TheDailyPoem.org
Villanelle