Synchronised swimming


The thrill of colour and thigh
moving as one organism
the flock veering
semaphores black/ white
every move’s a calculated
mean



a darker subjugation
individuals are vanishing
points on the horizon
the technical merit of
Gestapo jackboots



Our hunger for icons
fire water
the power of uniformity
We’ve seen synchronised humanity
In Goerring’s choreography



Free thought is rooted
out in training
The aberrant sent to re-education camp





or stood against the
swimming pool wall and
shot





© rob walker.
from micromacro, Seaview Press, 2006 and phobiaphobia, Picaro Press, 2007. Also appeared on David Barnes’ Numbat poetry website.

I was watching a synchronised swimming event in the Beijing Olympics on TV. This led to an arc of thought involving uniformity and the military state.