"Waterlogged" by Jodi Morton
Poetry
Waterlogged
800 steps from my creaky kitchen door to the warm sand,
to the sun’s glistening runway cast down the center
of Lake Michigan. Past the Friday Morning Swim Club,
congregated as usual, toward the desolate north end of the beach.
No spectators for this swim. Just me and my detritus.
Me and my too-skimpy one-piece, leg cut stretchmark-high.
Down the catwalk I head, one step at a time, into the still,
chilly water. First at my knees, then the hips, over my breasts,
until I rest at the bottom of Lake Michigan, body submerged
like a middle-aged shipwreck, my crusty treasure box
buried with all its wasted gifts.
Jodi Morton is a designer and poet based in Evanston, IL. Her poems have appeared in The Write Launch, Half and One, Cathexis Northwest Press, and Beyond Words Literary Magazine. Stay connected to Jodi on Instagtam @jodimortondesign.