Water Streaked with Sunshine

A few years ago, I broke up with the one.

I packed my things, I left, it was over, I was done.

I moved into a tiny room, crammed with all my things.

I didn’t know what to do with all the feelings a breakup brings.

Leaving bed felt like a feat too big to handle.

My sweet little heart felt like a snuffed-out candle.

I slept and cried and slept some more.

Every task I did felt like an infinite chore.

When I was a kid, I loved to swim, the water blue and cool.

The next day I signed up for a gym with a vast swimming pool.

This pool had windows and was on the second floor.

The sunshine filtered in through the bottom of the locker room door.

I can’t tell you how many laps I swam.

All I can say is that of all the things I am,

A fish or mermaid never crossed my mind,

But I take comfort in water streaked with sunshine.