Pool Patrons

Water Walkers

We are the ancient ones.

Grey headed matrons with aching bones

Seeking the solace of water. We walk

Slowly but incessantly back and forth,

Chatting about nothing particular or special:

Family, friends, events, the weather.

We love the old pool

With its leaks and breaks

So like our own.

Let’s repair it one more time.

Lap Swimmers

We are your worst high school nightmare

Decades on. Aging athletes and over-achievers.

We come to the pool to swim, not talk.

We want our own lane. Yes we come

At six am or give up lunch

To keep fit and sharp, counting laps

Precisely, timed with expensive gear.

We hate the old pool

With its leaks and breaks.

Build new and more efficiently!

Perhaps we will contribute.

The Disabled

The pool has brought us back to life.

We need help to get in, but the staff

Are like family, assisting

Without judgment. Once in,

We are free again to dream

And be our full selves.

Getting out is humiliation.

We see you watching us

And pity your stupidity.

We need the old pool.

If it closes, where will we go?

MARY ANN HEIDEMANN,

Rogers City