Downstream

Reading I see the river from
the window again: it looks
very wide, empty and cold. I
have other worries apart from
the distance, especially
swans. I’ve heard many tales
of having to escape hissing
swans, or what it feels like to
be at water level faced with a
6-foot wingspan. I was scared
enough of swans to begin
with; now I’m just praying I
won’t see any.
For weeks I’ve been telling