Wow cool poem, suppose you love swimming training and competing!
Painkiller
The water lures her.
Chlorine envelopes, pounds
her senses, bullies eyes into goggles
that show her what she wants to have,
a body without pain, a body without him.
She seizes her chance,
head down, breathing out,
pushing her body forward,
warm with every movement,
believing, again, the water’s promise.
Two strokes then
up, breathe, he loses his power,
sinks beneath her,
the anchor around his neck,
as the goggles do their rosy work.
On and on she moves,
pushes him down , down and away
with every stroke.
She no longer feels him,
she’s finally free.
She stops, takes a breath,
stands at the water’s edge.
But when the goggles come off,
he’s back and she’s lost the race,
imprisoned again in a girdle of pain.
(Copyright Jayneyrambles, 2012)
Thank you for your kind words about ‘Painkiller.’ I wrote it as part of my MA. I swim because it helps with Ankylosing Spondylitis, which I have.