Giving Summer A Kick Along... Poem by Lois Morgan

Now yesterday our neighbour Paul
Who swims through Summer into Fall
(And by the jetty sneaks a smoke
But who am I to judge the bloke?)
Told me he tried the water - just -
And 'Almost warm' I had to trust

Of course then, just one thing to do
I'd have to try the water too
October 13th? What the heck
I'd go in right up to my neck!
I shook the cobwebs from my crocks
Stripped off my clothes down to my socks
Popped on my togs, the tide was right
And not a single soul in sight.

Now anyone with any nous
Knows creeping slowly like a mouse
Is agony, you have to plunge
And fears of heart attack expunge
So there I stood, and SPLASH I went
'Cos FAST was what I said, and meant
But oh the shock went through and through
From tip of nose to toe nails blue
That icy blast it did not pause
Till I was numb as Santa Claus
(That cheerful chap with hairy chin
Belies the actual state he's in -
No-one can ride from North Pole fast
And shake that icy polar blast)

I could have turned myself around
And shot straight out to drier ground
But in the distance, on its rope
Bobbed Ross's yacht, so then my hope
Despite each second feeling glummer
Was do as I did all last summer -
Swim from the jetty round his boat
Determined as a stubborn goat.

So dog paddling, since that's my style
I found it took a little while
My fingers went to white from pink
And other places too, I think
But doggedly I paddled thus
And reached my goal without much fuss
And then, aha, on my return
The tide had energy to burn
It cradled me back to the beach
And left me glowing like a peach.

The moral of this tale is this:
Some things you really shouldn't miss
'Cos once the shower had thawed me out
I glowed all day and hopped about
The winter fug dealt one swift blow
And zest for life now good to go
Yep, he who hesitates is lost -
Carpe diem, at any cost!