Downstream

costume with capped sleeves
and a Union Jack on the front.
It’s a hundred years old,
faded to a dull grey, a little
ragged below one arm, as if
eaten by moths. I think of the
Lycra costume I normally
wear, and how heavy and
waterlogged Eileen’s must
have become after hour upon
hour swimming in the
Thames. Was this the one she
wore in August 1915 when
she swam between Tower