Pretending to Swim.(Poem)

 
PRETENDING TO SWIM 
 
   At six, my parents offered the ocean. 
   I had already known its shorthand in creeks 
 
   where my toes curled around a deep-throat 
   clutter of pebbles. 
        But I shrank 
   from this immense blue pool of crying 
 
   and refused to go in, even with 
   my father's hand as guidance, and an inflatable 
   plastic swan like a soft iron-lung around my waist. 
 
   I chose instead a runnel of thigh-deep water, 
   yellow and warm, further back from the beach. 
 
   You ...