The Poor Swimmer's Guide to Modern Swim Strokes

Howie Good

The more zeros added,
the greater the sensation of drowning.

How quickly our pockets
fill up with water.

I rest my feet on the waves,
but my head on the shore,

and silently count the seconds
between one useless cry

and the next.

© 2010 Howie Good. All rights reserved.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Howie Good, a journalism professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, is the author of 12 poetry chapbooks, including Visiting the Dead from Flutter Press, My Heart Draws a Rough Map from The Blue Hour Press, and Ghosts of Breath from Bedouin Books. He has been nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize and five times for the Best of the Net anthology. His first full-length book of poetry, Lovesick, was released in 2009 by Press Americana. He is co-editor of the online literary journal Left Hand Waving.