Poetry Olympics at Paper Poetry

Swimming With a Shark

In lopsided circles

Carolyn Hastings
Paper Poetry
Published in
2 min readAug 25, 2024

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A transparent, black and white vector shark against a swirling red and blue background.
constructed by author in PowerPoint using shark image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay and swirl image by TT from Pixabay

I’m in the deep end
of the pool
swimming backstroke
lopsided
circling in a slipstream
of my own blood

I’ve lost a limb
Could it be that shark took it?
the same one that’s been
helping itself to my flesh
all the while I was blind

I focus on the sky
so to know which way is up
towards heaven
I see my life pass over
before me

still I swim
in lopsided circles
the weight of my severed limb
like a buoy in the water
reminding me
I was once whole

© Carolyn Hastings 2024

I set out to write a poem for Poetry Olympics at Paper Poetry that honours the Paralympic Games that commence in Paris on August 28. I don’t know about you, but for me, the sheer courage and determination of athletes with physical, sensory and mental challenges…

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Carolyn Hastings
Paper Poetry

Well-practiced speech pathologist now practicing to be a children’s book writer — emphasis on practicing.