by Laura Rodley
As repetitious as concentric circles
breaking one upon the other, overlapping
but never touching, the outward circles
encroach on the returning circles,
but the swimmer’s hands keep breaking
the smooth skin of the water
sending back more circles,
her breaststroke a circle;
here, at Ashfield Lake, there is no election,
no Prince of Tides, no princes,
just to swim to the brown house
a quarter mile and return
before it gets dark.
Laura Rodley, Pushcart Prize winner, is a quintuple Pushcart Prize nominee and quintuple Best of Net nominee. Latest books Turn Left at Normal by Big Table Publishing and Counter Point by Prolific Press.