Downstream

although I’m keen to swim
near where Kathleen Ralphs
once raced, I’m still a little
anxious that I haven’t seen
the venue and that I’m going
to be in the water with
thousands of others. That
night I dream I’ve lost my
designated swimmer’s hat,
then I have my hat but there
is no number on it and I’m
walking down an urban road
in the dark in my wetsuit
insisting it’s too cold to