Poems
A number of swimmers I know compose verse, or haiku while swimming, or about swimming, the water and whatever comes to mind that is water related. This section honours some of them, while also showcasing some eminent poets who have written of the water. Christina Rossetti's 'Ferry me across the Water' is in memoriam Caroline Harris
Rachel Toll
Three good friends went for a swim
The one who was fat wished she was thin
The one she was curvy wishes she was clever
The one who was clever wishes she swam better
All three friends thought the other two fine
If only they could let their own bright light shine
So throw on your swimsuit if you're fat or you're thin
Enjoy fun and friendship, enjoy the skin that you're in
Eeva Kilpi
Finnish writer and poet
Nukkumaan käydessä ajattelen:
Huomenna minä lämmitän saunan,
pidän itseäni hyvänä,
kävelytän, uitan, pesen,
kutsun itseni iltateelle,
puhuttelen ystävällisesti ja ihaillen,
kehun: Sinä pieni urhea nainen,
minä luotan sinuun.
As I'm going to bed I think:
Tomorrow, I'll heat up the sauna,
I'll treat myself kindly, I'll
take myself for a walk, a swim, I'll wash myself,
invite myself for evening tea,
I'll address myself fondly, with admiration,
I'll praise myself: You little, courageous woman,
I trust you
Jeremy Wellingham
Chief Dodo and Oxfordshire open water swimmer
sunrise solstice dip
goose beach on far side of isle
devil casts his quoits
flower moon ladder
shines on lake – swim at sunset
cygnets re-united
dark michaelmas swim
raison d'etre birthday cake
lit spire between the trees
high tide, high summer
orange floats swept to kew
run red – name taken
flag claims territory
european picnic food
dappled lakeside shade
Lina Tengblad, Marielle Sjoren,
Anna Carin Olsen
100dagarkallabad, Gothenberg, Sweden
Bada bada bada, Varje dag
Bada bada bada, Varje dag
Bada Ja, Bada Ja
Bada bada bada, Varje dag!
Swimming, swimming, swimming, every day
Swimming, swimming, swimming, every day
Swimming Yes, Swimming Yes
Swimming, swimming, swimming, every day!
Joline Gordon
Poet, California
It is an ocean
And it is mine
Somewhere in its depth lies my beginning
A love that has no end
For this I must swim
Through the darkness of the waters
A light shines through
The beginning of something beautiful
But then it disappears
I feel alone and lost
But I keep swimming
It's been a lifetime of comes and goes
It slowly fades or vanishes suddenly
Or it was never really there at all
I could drown in the hurt
But I keep swimming
It is always different yet the same
Always beautiful
Same falling, same love, same end
Always an end
But with an end will come a beginning
One day I'll find my beginning with no end
So I just keep swimming
Helen Edwards
Dodo and Oxford open water swimmer, swimming everyday in open water now for more than four years
Can you hear the stirrings of spring
Under this sheltering sky
In the icy cold waters
And the clearing of the air
Living in my own skin
Lodging in this beautiful world
The exquisite time of the setting sun
Opening the space between sky and ground
So life is even more than before
Port Meadow
Rising dark of sky
Dust of sun in air's memory
Birdsong like honey
Halcyon Days
Go gently
As Solstice approaches
To return the light
Peace, joy and happiness to all
The sound of thousands of wings
Belonging together
Opening to nature
Otmoor, Oxford
Missing the Thames
As my water journeying unfolds
In Indonesia.....
Spring emerging on the river bank
Growing in colours and compassion
Every year reminding us
We are not separate from nature
Magnolia flower,
Last one to bloom, delicate,
The future assured
Last swim of the year
With Dames and Olympians
Darling Serpentine
"Bloody cold in there!!"
Sunny Serpentine swimming
Also lost dog found!!
Serpentine swim with
Swans, perfect temp, rewarded,
Spicy cheese flapjacks
Nippy Dippers in
The Serpentine today, sun's
Golden rays shining
Sixty-Five swims, all
New seas, pools, lakes and rivers
Stanley's doing LXVs
I was hoping to
Swim tomorrow conference
Beckons, no swimming
Mike Harris
Serpentine Swimming Club
and year-round outdoor swimmer
The Serpentine Pond
Is missing its swimmers but
Soon we will be back
Where's the Ice Machine?
We need a cool place to swim
With floating sauna
Brisk misty morning,
Serpentine Swims invigorate
Salmon pink torsos
Damp December Morn
Serpentine beckons
so does The changing room
Hawaii Five O
Waiting for Sheila, cool clear
Water swim today
Swimming under the
Sun and the Moon,
delighted By the Serpentine
Christina Rossetti
Poet, 1830 - 94
Ferry me across the water
Ferry me across the water
Do boatman do
If you've got a penny in your purse
I will ferry you
I have a penny in my purse
and my eyes are blue
So ferry me across the water
Do boatman do
Step into my ferry boat
Be they black or blue
And for the penny in your purse
I will ferry you
By the water
There are rivers lapsing down
Lily-laden to the sea;
Every lily is a boat
For bees, one, two, or three:
I wish there were a fairy boat
For you, my friend, and me.
We would rock upon the river,
Scarcely floating by;
Rocking rocking like the lilies,
You, my friend, and I;
Rocking like the stately lilies
Beneath the statelier sky.
But ah, where is that river
Whose hyacinth banks descend
Down to the sweeter lilies,
Till soft their shadows blend
Into a watery twilight?—
And ah, where is my friend?