Poetry: Swimming Lessons

Swimming Lessons

by Lisa Hammond Rashley

Minnows and their moms
hurry in         no running
no floaties        they bob
in the shallow end    feet
lighter than the air   outside
humid hot    hold your nose
dunk    then   sleek heads
break water     gasp in air
guppies swam earlier
tread water    flutter kick
breathe     breathe
pollywogs slipped home
to naps by now    lily pad
blankets pulled       over
still damp hair   barely green
this one dogpaddles slowly
dreaming next year
she will be       a bluegill
a dolphin       flying fish
her mother poolside with
towels     her unread book
watching    wings unfurled.

Lisa Hammond Rashley is an Associate Professor of English at the University of South Carolina Lancaster. Her poems have appeared in a number of journals, including Southern Poetry Review, StorySouth, English Journal, Timber Creek Review, and Coelacanth. Her academic research focuses on gender and technology; her most recent article, Work it Out With your Wife: Gendered Expectations and Parenting Rhetoric Online is forthcoming in the National Women's Studies Association Journal. She lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina, with her husband and their two children.




Read the Introduction Recent Poetry To My Daughter, After a Fight Swimming (Stretchmarks) Dead Man’s Float How to disappoint your mother The Last Page Christina Iron Ethan and Lily, After School Mom Art so much deepens Archives Poetry Archives E-zine Don't have time to check for updates? Let us come to you! Click here to subscribe or unsubscribe to the Literary Mama E-zine. Literary Mama About Us Submissions Contact Privacy Policy Literary Mama Bookshop Literary Mama Gear Powered by Movable Type 3.16	Poetry « Imagine if He Did \| Back to Poetry \| Festival » Swimming Lessons by Lisa Hammond Rashley Minnows and their moms hurry in no running no floaties they bob in the shallow end feet lighter than the air outside humid hot hold your nose dunk then sleek heads break water gasp in air guppies swam earlier tread water flutter kick breathe breathe pollywogs slipped home to naps by now lily pad blankets pulled over still damp hair barely green this one dogpaddles slowly dreaming next year she will be a bluegill a dolphin flying fish her mother poolside with towels her unread book watching wings unfurled. Lisa Hammond Rashley is an Associate Professor of English at the University of South Carolina Lancaster. Her poems have appeared in a number of journals, including Southern Poetry Review, StorySouth, English Journal, Timber Creek Review, and Coelacanth. Her academic research focuses on gender and technology; her most recent article, Work it Out With your Wife: Gendered Expectations and Parenting Rhetoric Online is forthcoming in the National Women's Studies Association Journal. She lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina, with her husband and their two children.