Downstream

everyone has initials only,
except for Dawn because ‘she
wanted her full name, to
show she was a lady’. I stare
at the list, thinking how proud
she must have been, and
whether – intentionally or not
– women were excluded from
the Otter Swimming Club for
over a century because the
men were afraid of being
beaten.
We leave the bar, walk to
the seating area and look