Hesitantly I enter the pool
Take refuge on the inflatable ring
Paddle, with hands and feet
Side to side, end to end
Body and water become at one
I swim several lengths
First slowly, without cutting the surface
Then at pace; frenetic, wilfully insurgent
To be pursued, so I read, is to lose all fear
Thus encouraged I take a position at the deep end
Dive, or plunge; for at once I recognise
I am anything but a torpedo
This poem is from the collection
