Excerpt from “BODY IN WATER / BODY IN WATER / BODY” by Tracy Dimond
A lycra swimsuit cradles body.
Limbs gleam like fins.
Body controls movements in water.
Limbs are fluid.
Limbs are wings.
Limbs are useful.
Manipulate the power of water. Feel powerful.
Water battles oil.
Body gravitates to the water for freedom.
Why rely on machines for flight?
Organs are the epitome of efficiency.
They keep body alive.
Coach came to the water.
Body like a jelly donut in a swimsuit with too many holes.
Start counting.
Do dolphins count fish?
Body enjoys power in beating numbers.
Undulate past time.
Scientists say that most of body is water.
Look for fluidity.
Instead, these lumps.
Even imperfect hands.
When did fat knuckles grow?
Can water manipulate body?
Body manipulates body.
Shrink into role.
Find best practices to slide through water.
Genetics intervene.
Body steals more space.
Body is less efficient.
Remember from science class that most of the earth is water floating in space.
Watch ice cubes float.
Ice cubes as tiny water islands.
Move on.
You can read the rest of “BODY IN WATER / BODY IN WATER / BODY” in our Long Poetry Issue.
Tracy Dimond co-curates Ink Press Productions. Her latest chapbook, I Want Your Tan, was released in May by Ink Press Productions. She is also the author of Grind My Bones Into Glitter, Then Swim Through The Shimmer (NAP 2014) and Sorry I Wrote So Many Sad Poems Today (Ink Press 2013). Her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in The Nervous Breakdown, Barrelhouse, Pinwheel, Sink Review, Hologram, and other places.
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