
1906, printed 1911
Alfred Stieglitz (editor/publisher) after Various Artists, (National Gallery of Art)
Swimming In The Sea With My Father
legs floating, brush of seaweed
bulging water moves us
up and down
the shore seems very far away
the bright orange of my dad’s neoprene cap
is a moving buoy, marking our course
my left shoulder flawed like his
my left shoulder in step with his
both of us lolloping through waves
as we charge across the bay
ignoring the flags, the lifeguards, the paddleboards
the people, like tiny dots on the shore
my legs drag behind my strong swimming body
obediently, like reluctant children on an outing
to look around a church or a museum
some historic building benignly designed to improve them
until my feet dragging behind
become participant
in this way of moving
through the world
and one day for the first time, I seek out a small church
to visit, purely for my own pleasure
and I am made better by the scribbled prayers
the treasures found and cherished on a stained glass windowsill
as I am made better by the boats
bobbing out the corner of my eye
my father’s orange head, tired now
receding towards the shore
just steadying his feet on the sand
now squinting back out to sea
to watch me
as I keep swimming
Harriet Sandilands is a writer living in Montserrat, Spain. She recently published her first book “Pepita” and has been featured at The Poet’s Corner, Litro and Kitchen Table Quarterly. She loves dogs, soup and swimming outdoors.