Downstream

I’m given a finisher’s bag
and follow a sign to a shower.
Then I start to cough, and
soon I’m coughing so much
I’m nearly retching. I think of
Kathleen Ralphs’ mother,
waiting at home with a dose
of sennapods because of what
her daughter may have
swallowed while swimming
in the dock. But I also think
how proud she must have
been to have won three silver
cups, just as my daughter