Becoming Anyone - A Poem

If I have to become anyone,

Let me be the women in her oldest years,

still striding magnificently into the ocean at sunset

in a bright yellow, figure hugging swimsuit.

Let me still be the child who forever goes 'pants off' at the beach

Just because it's fun to be naked.

I'll be the swimmer doing laps back and forth, just to keep moving through it.

I'll be the teenage girls, admiring their own young bodies

far more than the boys and men who watch them.

If I have to become anyone,

Let me be the woman who seriously marches onto the beach,

after sunset,

for a 'brisk walk' to clear her head.

Let me be the fisherman who stands patiently waiting

to catch and release the unfortunate fish who takes his bait.

Let me be the woman who has overcome the fears of being herself

And wades comfortably into the ocean to float for a while.

Let me be the person who notices with wonder the world I see.

Let me become anyone.