The differences between us
were clear as water, sharper than sulphur
thickening air. You revelled in the hottest pool,
eyes closed, skin blushing
red as cherries. I too rose pink,
for other reasons. There were too many eyes
and not enough towels. I liked the cool pools,
free from grinning city lights,
the wide arms of the lake. Topless women.
The warmth that overwhelmed,
left me drunk.

                         Stumbling out
my pores gasped, dizzy. The cold slap
of feet on concrete, winter wind.
We kept our heads above water,
filled the two-hour limit, no more.
In the changing rooms women strode
more naked than I’d ever been.
I changed in a toilet cubicle,
limbs slack. And with creased fingers
folded the swimsuit
that has never seen the sea.