was never the goal
when she started out
just keeping her head
above roiling water
the mantra she wrote itself
on steamy mirrors

but even old driftwood
rises now and then
to ride the current
bunch below the bridge
get its day back in the sun

so she rode it out bobbing
along holding her breath|
to rise and break glistening glass
ceilings of lake and stream
rode unexpected floods
and learned to swim against tides
freestyled her way to the top.