Those twenty
Yards – chlorinated plenty –
Were my haven after school.
Cool
Wet refuge
After the social deluge
Of people pressure and the strife —
Life!
Yes, water
Is life-giving. The hotter
The peer interaction hash
[splash]
The increase
In joy! To dive in, release
All the heavy weary stress –
Yes!
Go swimming!
When your day has been brimming
With all life’s too-muchness – get
Wet.
This is my response to the W3 prompt this week which is to compose an ekphrastic poem inspired by any image of a body of water (ocean, waterfall, lake, etc.). The Poet of the Week (Sarah David) also wanted us to include the image that served as inspiration.
The photo is from the pool where I learned to swim. The pool itself is long gone, converted into office space. When I walk past that building, I try to remember what is was like inside, but it’s a struggle. I can’t picture the pool.
Then, I found that photo in an old yearbook at a used bookstore. The picture is at least 15 years older than I am, but the memories that flooded over me when I saw it — well, let’s just say I HAD to buy that yearbook for a ridiculous price for that one picture. That pool was such a happy place for me.
The poem is an Irish form called Deibide Baise Fri Toin. It’s made up of quatrains with an aabb rhyme scheme. Syllable count 3-7-7-1. Lines one and two rhyme on a two-syllable word; lines three and four rhyme on a monosyllabic word.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
I love the form and the memories!! Bravo!
What a lovely routine and memory so beautifully written, Sally! 💞💞💞 That form is intriguing!
Such wonderful memories, Sally and an excellent form for your lovely verse!
Swimming was always my mother’s refuge from the world. Your words made me smile, remembering. (K)
I took swimming for 3 years in high school and was on the swim team. Not that I could swim fast, I couldn’t, but I loved swimming as much as I didn’t like high school in general. I quit the team my last semester when the new coach changed us from a swim team to sychronized swimming. I have one photo of me and the rest of the team but it only shows a very small bit of the pool.
*le sigh*
I was on a swim team at a local pool that no longer exists… I totally get what you’re saying, Sally. I would have purchased the photo too!
Such a lovely memory and such a lovely write!
~David
How lovely! I like your poem quiet al lot. Water giving life, shelter and joy! Oh boy!
Great photo! The smell of chlorinated pool holds so many memories