You Never Regret A Swim!

A local Margate collab with the fantastic Medley Design Studio, with text from my poem ‘Wild’ laid over our very favourite Walpole Bay Tidal Pool (that pretty much single-handedly kept me sane during lockdowns) - A3 Unframed print.

Printed on 100% recycled and FSC paper in Leeds UK.

Text Reads:

I’ve never regretted going for a swim.

Even on the days when I have almost talked myself out of it. When the warm duvet clings to me like seaweed,
when on the way the wind whispers:
It’s not too late to turn back,

when I’m stood at the edge
and shivering before I’ve even begun.

Deep breath. Feet clench.

And yet the second I am in it is all worth it.
Okay, 5 seconds after I am in it is all worth it.
Somehow every single time it still surprises me how cold it is.

My technique is
less Wim Hoff,
more Grunt Like Warthog, flailing limbs underwater
until things begin to warm up.

When the cold hits you,
it becomes impossible to think about anything else - and this year of all years, that is not nothing.

It could be Wetsuit-with-the-hands-and-feet, or swimsuit-with-a-beanie-hat,
a full-on lap, a there-and-back,
often not even that.

The codeword becomes Stiff Chewing Gum,
as in the texture that your muscles feel when it is time to get out.

Whether grimacing or grinning, you can see it in our eyes,
skin is pink and we are thinking What a time to be alive.

I love how much I do not need to be the best at this. Each day the fact I'm in at all is an achievement - And this year of all years, that is not nothing.

A dog walker on the way home chuckles “Rather you than me.” I can’t help smiling to myself and think I rather do agree.

As the feeling
teases back into my fingers,
I am already looking forward to tomorrow - And this year of all years, that is not nothing.