swimming lessons

by brice maiurro

                         you become a rowboat
and the lake finds its way to you
                         you become a canoe
and you find yourself a river
     and you stumble down eternal
           into sure doom and dangerous love
through all the ugly trees that threaten
       the sky you think you own
           and as sudden as a slow dance
                             you become a raft
                 splayed out across an ocean
           surrounding you
like a womb
                    —sorry
                                   I meant tomb