We went to the pool with the wind mad at heaven,
The water was freezing and as cold as hell.
I sat on the deck before dawn in a blanket
Sparing the moment for as long as I could.
The workout was heavy with nowhere to run to.
We stayed 'til the hour and left not before.
In my mind I did hope that the sun would come early
And hoped that it'd rise; a song sung in my mind.
"There's always the sun, always, always, always the sun".
For each crossing lane that I reached out to pull me
My stroke was stretched out for I grew like a weed.
The lights in the pool did not fade out moonlight
As it slid 'cross the scene in the dark morning sky.
Then to break the monotony of distance in water
We lapped up the brown milk and flapped for some fish.
Our five minute meetings lasting longer than ten
Were lightened with laughter and a slap to the head.
We went home, laid down and slept full for hours,
Then ate soggy french toast and mowed a fat mans front lawn.
We played video games and wrote down our memories,
Missed the young girls that we'd left far behind.
My body grew brown from the same afternoon ritual
The wind did not stop and the water still cold.
The block bounced up and down as we shivered a 'Y' dive,
Our muscles contracting in attempts to stay warm.
We all listened to the same song played over and over
On our way to the games, with "sugar on me".
We ate at a joint, burgers made by an armpit
Flies on our plates, forty-five minutes away.
We worked out on meet days, and worried about nothing.
And soon we were off to Zone in L.A.
It was amazing to be there amidst all the swimmers,
Coming from states all over the west.
On the way home, we took a stop off in Disney,
Where we played for twelve hours, mostly waiting in line.
That was the summer, a time when it all happened,
We called it Firewater and I'll never be the same.
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