"I can't, sweetie," I say in answer to her pleading gaze.
My granddaughter looks at me, drips onto hot cement bathed in sterile chlorine scent,
and my mind floods with fear. Submerged in panic,
I dive through memories until I am twelve years old again.
"If you don't pass the swim test, you don't canoe on the lake."
I wade through the words of the camp leader still afloat in my mind.
Unpracticed, unready, unnerved,
I jump in the deep end.
I bob to the top, then gravity pulls. I flounder.
I am drowning!
My soggy mind fills with dread. As I sink deeper, an arm yanks me to the surface and air.
I determine I will not face that fear.
I watch from shore at camp while canoe oars splash water on laughing girls.
"I'll sit on the side and watch you swim, dear," I say,
regretful I never faced that fear.
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| Writing Prompt |
Write a 10-15 line free verse poem about a phobia you may have. We all have something that very much frightens us. No rhyming patterns. |
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Phobias
Contest Winner
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Author Notes
My parents did not like to swim, not that I blame them. After this episode, I found lots of excuses to miss swim parties. As the years wore on, my phobia grew until I am terrified of water. I missed so many fun experiences. A life regret.
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