Kathryn D. Temple

Swimming with My Sister South of Miami

I told her that darkness sparks the imagination
and she said yes, but what about light?  See
this blue-sky bowl, the aqua ocean glitters
with a light that lifts our bodies and our souls.

We go out to sea under the sun,
rock gently on the belly of the swell,
half fish, half human, we hum soft tunes
under a crystal sky, pass manta rays and angels.

Below rippled water, we find light 
refracted, a kaleidoscope of glow, we drift
as fish drift when sleeping, eyes wide, radiant,
we can see stars, we see each other.

Kathryn D. Temple teaches and writes at Georgetown University. Her poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction have appeared in Streetlight, Metaworker, The Examined Life, Delmarva Review, and 3Elements, among others. A finalist who received funding from the Lori White Nonfiction Fellowship, she has also published two academic books on law & emotions and many essays in academic journals. Find her on the Chesapeake Bay where she is at work on her third academic book or at https://georgetown.academia.edu/KathrynTemple and https://medium.com/@templek