In all weathers—wet suits or nothing,
searing sun, under a comforter of fog,
rafts of leaves, first snow—
your strong strokes always ahead,
silver flashes as you raised
and tucked your arms,
me sputtering half doggie-paddle,
half breast, then, as you made me,
to be like you, I crawled
in your wake to taste your salt,
feel the silk of warmth
you left for me to brush aside.
All the way across we stretched,
where only we dared to go,
beached dolphins lying
on boulders, our separate mists
in each other’s hair,
skin, fingertips, as we turned
to talk or not.
You sold all you had to live
in a far desert, don’t call
when you come East for others.
All this, you know, of course,
as women know women.
The rest I wish we could say.
–
Susanna Rich—poet, Emmy Award nominee, Fulbright Fellow, translator, and founding producer of Wild Nights Productions, LLC—tours her musical Shakespeare’s *itches: The Women v. Will and one-woman performances of her five books, most recently Beware the House and SHOUT! Poetry for Suffrage.