I’ve started swimming three times a week.
I don’t know why – just as much as
I don’t know what I am doing – but thrashing
my legs and punching my arms, lifting
my nose out of the water and back in,
feeling my cells, my heart, my instincts
refuse to drop like a black, rubber brick is
a useful reminder that at least my body thinks
dying might not be a good idea.

Carl Burkitt 2024

Written while listening to ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ by Frightened Rabbit.