The Underwater Swim for Distance

When I was pretty young I got to go to summer camp for a spell
It was plenty of fun and if you were lucky you could tell

Things about yourself and I’ll give you a for instance
A contest they set up called The Underwater Swim For Distance

There were plenty of guys who were faster and stronger
But unknown to anyone I could swim longer
Than all the other campers could see
And no one was more surprised at that than me.

I stroked and stroked through that cold, dark lake
Swam without direction because I couldn’t see straight
A line like an arrow would have been the preferred course
There was nothing to guide me though and it was easy to get lost.

Sometimes I’d surface up in the middle of the lake
I had gone way outside their lights and buoys
where voices turned to shapes

They told me not to be afraid
They had brought me out here
Neither too early nor too late
This distance was always measured
And out here was to be my fate.