Swimming alone – Lyndsey Weiner

Swimming alone


in a pandemic: A year ago someone threaded police tape through the latches 
of each locker, sealing them shut. Gray-pink insulation tufts 
through ceiling tiles in the fluorescent light of the shower room. 

The blue metal door to the pool, kickboards and pull buoys in their cages. 
The scoreboard lights up with a pop and echo. Rushing red numbers 
cast on the water, mixed with sunlight from windows 20 feet up.

It's winter. Stray hairs slither over a drain 12 feet deep. 
Behind the lifeguard chair a red knob over a placard:
In Case of Emergency: Press Button.


Lyndsey Weiner