the design i imagined i would be a part of
more what my part looked like
—
it was a last-minute impulse decision
my friend who was on our high school swim team
said she was going to join our new synchronized swim team
(now known as artistic swimming in the olympics)
i thought it sounded like fun
so i followed along ready to become an aqua artist
looking back
not sure at all why i made this choice
as i clearly remember my p.e. teacher
just weeks before
telling me
(after a 10-minute treading water test)
that i resembled someone who had been shipwrecked
thrashing around just trying to survive
(quite accurate really)
even so
i jumped into the water
where my vision of grace and being a mermaid
quickly blurred into reality
and one reason why you did not see me in the recent olympics.
—
“sometimes you are in sync with the times, sometimes you are in advance, sometimes you are late.”
-bernardo bertolucci
—
image credits: google images