Photography © Chad Parenteau

 

Lakeside

When I was a child Lakeside
was my favourite family outing.
I loved the freshness of the cool air,
the grey bleakness of the water
and the windblown beach
that seemed to go on for ever.
I would roll up my pants
and race my sister to the water’s edge.
We’d dare each other into the water.
We knew it would be cold
too cold to let it wet much of us,
too cold to stay wet for long
but we loved the comfort of the thick towels
that would be wrap us round like blankets
afterwards.
We loved it like a perversion.
We loved it all.
I’m sitting there now
all these years later
perversely
overwhelmed
and overdressed.
I hadn’t reckoned on global warming,
hadn’t expected to see people swimming
in the warm blue water,
lying on the beach
in the sunshine,
hadn’t expected that
I would be
so overwhelmed
and so overdressed.

 

Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality. She was shortlisted in the Theatre Cloud ‘War Poetry for Today’ competition and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a Rhysling Award. Her poetry has appeared in many publications including: Apogee, Firewords, Capsule Stories, Light Journal and So It Goes.

Chad Parenteau is Associate Editor of Oddball Magazine.