Water Women

                                    We do not want

to rock the boat,

you say, mistaking

our new poise

for something safe.

We smile secretly

at each other,

sharing the reality

that for some time

we have not been

in the boat.

We jumped

or were pushed

or fell

and some leaped

overboard.

Our bodies form

a freedom fleet

our dolphin grace

in power.

We learn and teach

and as we go

each woman sings;

each woman’s hands

are water wings.

Some of us have become

mermaids or Amazon whales

and are swimming for our lives.

Some of us do not know how to swim.

We walk on water.

Alla Bazarth-Campbell