SoMa Literary Review

Feminine

By Bryan Stillman

Getting used to the water

Is a lifelong pursuit.

Staring out from a glass bottom boat

Turns my feelings into glistening pieces of clear fruit.

It hurts to slam my muscled paddles

Against the raw red-dark power of the deep sea.

The pain lasts and lasts like an unforgiving high tide,

The water washes away all that is not me.

Some hide beneath rocks and shells

Afraid of being called an unusual name.

As if feminine is less than powerful,

As if gentle is more of the same.

The glory down below doesn’t disappear

The depths are far to make you dive there.

It’s not the muscle that takes you

It’s the wavy delicate flow that’s so hard to bear.

Also by Bryan Stillman on SoMa Literary Review:

The Long Walk, Restart, Group Leader & Will We?

Bryan Stillman lives in San Francisco. He's worked in film, advertising and of course the hospitality industry. He's also been published on the web at Cherry Bleeds and artist-at-large.com.