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Pretending In the Water—A Poem


My hair goes wild
when I go swimming.
My daughter tells me.
Mom, she says, your hair
is pretty,
and she means
it isn’t.
My hair goes wild
when I go swimming.
If you swim with me, pretend
you don't see.

At summer camp,
mixed swimming was
forbidden.
Boys and girls in the water
boil up a summer soup of trouble.
Boys and girls might think things
under water's murky cover.
Might see shapes dripping with
sunlight as they step
onto shore.
Might go wild.
Might pretend they didn’t.
Then who would know if
they were bad,
the boys and girls?

My hair goes wild
when I go swimming.
If you swim with me, pretend
you don't see.
Tell me it’s pretty, and
I'll pretend that's true.
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Comments

Speedway said…
That's lovely, Robyn. I bet your hair is pretty when it's "wild."
9:07 PM
dive said…
Glorious, Robyn!
Some wonderful and grin-inducing imagery in there.

And hey, your hair looks FABULOUS whatever you do with it. In fact the crazier and spikier it gets, the better it looks. You're lucky to have hair that groovy. And lucky to have a way with words that makes the rest of us green with envy.
1:48 PM
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