Or better, I think of swimming in the ocean. Some people just throw themselves in without worrying. But when the surf is churning, some stand at the edge and calculate when to enter. You don’t want to get stuck at the shoreline when a big wave comes plowing in. You need energy and good timing to make it out past the crashy part, with its shells and stones, to the undulating area. Once in, it’s fun, the peril abates, until it's time to get back out.
There's a word for the fear of waves and wave-like motion: kymophobia.
Thx to Shannon Rankin for the collage image
5 comments:
My problem with the ocean is that it's hard to get all the way in before the reflex that the water is too cold kicks in.
At pools, I tend to prefer to go to the diving board first so as to get in all at once.
I share that vague fear of revolving doors.
And this ocean fear reminds me of some recent scary riptide stories in the news.
I misread revolving as devolving.
And wondered how a door could devolve.
I used to be terrified of escalators. I was certain as a child that every time I stepped on that top step descending that the step was going to disappear and I was going to tumble down the rabbit hole.
I loathe the revolving door at my work place. It's automatic like yours, triggered by an id card swipe. And it has a voice that orders you to please step in. It sometimes will reject you for no apparent reason at all, and mid-revolution, the door will stop, an alarm will sound, and the voice, a woman's voice that reminds me very much of Hal's from 2001 Space Odyssey, will say in rather flat unconcerned manner, unauthorized access, again and again and again.
A devolving door.
Hmmmm. That might be something to fear.
Love your misreading. Yes, one problem with automatic doors is that they malfunction. Ours also breaks down and it is a bitch to push.
When we had an awning installed on our patio, the guy was like 'oh you need an electric one so you don't have to crank it.' Not to mention an electric one cost hundreds of euros more and was completely unnecessary. I was about 40 when we did it, so his argument that 'how would I do it' when i got old would not be a matter of concern for about 3 decades, and by then I surely would have had to repair it 10 times... etc!
Anyway there's a zine doing an issue on 'misreading.' Write the 'devolving door' poem! It's THIS Literary Magazine (or similar - check duotrope). NOt sure it's still going on.
cheers
Never liked revolving doors - just don't seem to ever get any closure...
Wonderful work by Shannon. And I do miss your poetry and prose...I don't come here often enough... - J.
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