Once again, the editors of SWIMM have surprised and delighted me with a poem. Enjoy this one by Katherine Riegel. And, if you want to get SWWIM poems in your mail box, you can sign up at https://www.swwim.org
NOT EVERY BODY IS THIS HARD TO CARRY
Having a body is like dragging around
a huge purse, one of those satchel-sized leather
behemoths that holds everything you could possibly
need: wallet, change purse, sunglasses, pen, lip balm,
clear stream to sit beside, existential crisis, your dead
relatives’ voices, doggie poop bags. It’s all
in there but you have to root around
for your keys, and while you’re pawing through
you find other things you forgot you were carrying:
envelope with a friend’s address on it, white-flecked rock
you picked up because it was shaped like a heart.
The thing is fucking heavy, and for some of us
it just gets heavier, and then we discover
we can’t run with it, the corners
are soggy with pain, old to-do lists spill
from the top. The body begins to tear,
duct tape doesn’t help, it’s a struggle to keep
everything where it’s supposed to be. Suddenly
your crackling knees insist I am you and your mind
says Fuck off but then you remember you’re actually
inside the ginormous purse and oh-my-god there’s
the bike you rode at fourteen, hot wind in your face,
the turquoise ring you can no longer wear on your swollen fingers,
and at the very bottom a weedy path
you know you have to walk—you want
to walk—if you can just get it together, chivvy yourself
out of your chair, not always hopeful but alive, still alive.
first published in SWWIM on May 8, 2023