in 2007 I had a pacemaker put in
I wrote this poem which is okay
to repeat for I couldn't get to our
lake season 2019, due to covid:
"what this summer I am denied is
what I love best about being here
naked in the still dawn the water
welcoming my gliding breaststroke
through the shade of the wooded
hill behind me till far out I come
into the sunlight on the water its rays
first on my hands a moment almost
sacred in its pleasure the warmth on
my hair my skin velvet as a newborn
my body supple as an eel as I dip
and surface – my heart when it heals
will another summer allow this joy
a time will come though when swims
will cease instead of pause – if heaven is
what we each make it then mine will be
swimming to meet the sunlight in the dawn"
2020 Jacqueline Jackson
