Just for one day I’d like to be
A quieter shape of gravity
Smaller – yet the hidden thread
To slice with bow and forge ahead

I’ve strained against the river’s pull
Felt every stubborn inch of hull
Resist, then run beneath my hand –
The shell’s obedient command

I know the heft of wooden blade
The catch, the drive, the slow cascade
Shoulders burning, huffing, wheezing
Legs in rhythm, wet hair freezing

But I would trade that measured ache
For what a tempered voice can make
To slip between the oar’s refrain
And turn those labors into gain

I want to be the coxswain’s call
Not straining in Four Seat at all
Master the river, sharp and square
And feel it buckle everywhere

Most days I wear the height I’ve grown,
The long-armed shadow, muscled bone
Yet just one day – clear-voiced, assured
I want to be the strength that’s heard

***

Jordan G. Lewis (she/her) lives and works in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as a senior policy advisor for state government. With a doctorate in neuroscience, her writing has appeared in peer-reviewed medical journals and books, scientific popular press articles, and government reports. To exercise her right brain, she’s been quietly writing poetry for three years and looks forward to expanding her publishing repertoire to something more fun. Former collegiate rowers, Jordan and her husband now cheer on their sons from the soccer, basketball, and flag football stands (occasionally dusting off her Concept2 erg in the basement).