Cool It!

I t was summer, It was Tahoe
It was the beautiful South shore.
When you hear my tale you'll then know why
I don't go swimming anymore.

The air was warm, the water blue
It was a great day for a dip.
The azure pool was beckoning,
So I peeled down and let er rip.

A perfect swan dive, there, I did
In wild anticipation
But then and there, right in mid-air
Dawned a horrible realization.
This water comes from snow
That's not too far removed.
I should have felt the water first
Before I made this stupid move.

Well, that's all academic
' Cause I ended my short leap
And words could scarce describe the shock
When I plunged into the deep.

I can't say how cold the water was
And don't even care to know,
But it could not have been much colder
Were it twenty two below.

I started flailing with my limbs
In frantic, cold, dispair.
I went, way, past treading water
To the act of treading air.

I nearly died that fateful day
Before I made it to the shore.
I still do lots of things for fun
But, I don't go swimming anymore.

-Claud C Kluge-
1995