Teresa Kay

Swimmer, Oxfordshire 

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Twelve Days of Christmas 2021-22

 

On the first day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

tidings of a sewage spill at Witney

 

On the second day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the third day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the fourth day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

four floating turds,

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the fifth day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me five pads with wings,

four floating turds,

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the sixth day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

river birds abating,

five pads with wings,

four floating turds,

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the seventh day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

seven swimmers vomming,

river birds abating,

five pads with wings,

four floating turds,

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the eighth day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

slimy fungus forming,

seven swimmers vomming,

river birds abating,

five pads with wings,

four floating turds,

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the ninth day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

aquatic insects dying,

slimy fungus forming,

seven swimmers vomming,

river birds abating,

five pads with wings,

four floating turds,

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the tenth day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

fishes gender-bending,

aquatic insects dying,

slimy fungus forming,

seven swimmers vomming,

river birds abating,

five pads with wings,

four floating turds,

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the eleventh day of Christmas,

Thames Water sent to me

plant life declining,

fishes gender-bending,

aquatic insects dying,

slimy fungus forming,

seven swimmers vomming,

river birds abating,

five pads with wings,

four floating turds,

countless pathogens,

microplastic sludge

and another sewage spill at Witney

 

On the twelfth day of Christmas, Thames Water sent to me...

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- nothing more -

- the spills went on for just eleven days of Christmas -

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

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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If you had swum across the furthest ocean

And seen the vastness of infinity

Though dread of death might seize you, you'd still see The rolling waves

in never-ceasing motion

 

(from Faust)

Rachel Toll

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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

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Helen Edwards

Dodo and Oxford open water swimmer, swimming everyday in open water now for more than five years

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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

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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.....

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Spring emerging on the river bank
Growing in colours and compassion
Every year reminding us
We are not separate from nature

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Magnolia flower,

Last one to bloom, delicate,

The future assured

 

Last swim of the year

With Dames and Olympians

Darling Serpentine

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"Bloody cold in there!!"

Sunny Serpentine swimming

Also lost dog found!!

 

Serpentine swim with

Swans, perfect temp, rewarded,

Spicy cheese flapjacks

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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

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