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Featured Poem: Treading Water

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By Sally Wahl Constain
Jacksonville Branch (Florida)

 

One of the first things we learned

way back then

in Camp Tioga

was how to float,

front and back and

how to tread water,

basic survival swimming skills.

 

I am no longer ten, being taught

by Red Cross instructors

in a calm, cool, murky lake

in Pennsylvania.

I find myself now in turbulent waters,

struggling against the current

with weaker, half-forgotten

swimming strokes.

Again treading water,

chin pointed upward

legs pumping below, just hard enough

to keep me from drowning

while I wait for resentful seas to still,

or for someone near

to throw me a lifeline.

18 comments

    • sally constain says:

      Dear Wilma,
      thank you for your nice comment. I like when my poems touch others, that they are relatable. And, yes, I’ve been thrown lifelines on many occasions.
      Sally

  2. Andrea Walker says:

    Keeping afloat is not always simple, is it? Treading water can be a real struggle at times, and we definitely need help. Very well-expressed, Sally.

  4. Judy Barnett says:

    What a nice remembrance . I got my Red Cross badges also by learning how to swim in a lake in rural PA. We also had to have a partner. When the counselors blew a whistle we had to find our partner and hold our arms up together. The camp painted the posts that held up the pier with some awful smelling stuff to keep the wood from rotting.

    • sally constain says:

      Thanks, Judy,
      You made me smile!
      And remember.
      There is a chapter about camp in my memoir of essays and poems about these experiences way back when. It includes photos of my Red Cross cards.
      Random Reflections.

  6. Claire Massey says:

    This poem perfectly conveys the feeling of struggling in turbulent currents.
    And don’t we all long to peacefully float, or at least have a lifeguard standing by while we tread water? A highly relatable poem–thank you, Sally.

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