Well, here's a poem that has stuck with me and other people that Tony Hoagland wrote about swimming but more than swimming . I have thought it a good example in the use of the narrative to also explore the psychological. A friend of mine, the poet Marilyn Gear Pilling, wrote me she had just swam 40 lengths and felt she was close to "Kath"'s accomplishment in this poem who swam 22 laps. I said some swimmers call each length a lap, in fact my apple watch does (an extravagant gift I was given) and maybe she was already past Kath's record. I said the only way to know was to write Tony which I did. And he responded within hours in a very nice way as he was about to go about his own swim.
What can we learn from this? First if you have a question about a poem you may be able to get the answer directly from the poet. Next Tony was very nice to answer the question. And thirdly poems stick with people. Oh yeah, and Kath's 22 laps are 44 lengths.
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