13 November 2022

By Philip Kuepper

Yes,
I heard
the race was a washout.
But I don’t want to write about
things going wrong.
The human world is dispiriting enough.
I’d rather not add to it.
Rather the rower
who eased his boat into the water,
slipped into it, and became
one with his craft,
and one with the craft
of positioning the oars,
locking them in place,
and easing into the scene all round him,
nothing momentous outside the moment,
nothing astounding,
just the act
of going for a row
on water, receptive,
water that need only be
water, welcoming.

(2 November 2022)