Cross Country

By John I. Blair

In some wondrous motion picture
I have glimpsed the undersides of elephants
Swimming in a pool as clear as air,
Their mighty legs waving back and forth,
Stately as the pitman rods
On the Natchez IV at New Orleans
Driving its massive hull
Slowly across the Mississippi.

The grace, the power,
The fundamental rightness
Apparent in this ancient motive method
Misled me into ill-conceived comparison
With “cross country”
As executed by the women
In my water aerobics class
Last Wednesday evening.

©2005 John I. Blair