of Penarth beach next to the pier
my thoughts conjure Kathleen Thomas
who at only twenty years of age
became the first to swim the Channel
from Penarth to Weston-super-Mare.
Due to the tide the distance
between shores became twice as long.
What elation she must have experienced
as she reached the sands of Weston.
I watch the placid waves sizzle
on this somnolent, sunny spring day
and seem to view Kathleen Thomas' ghost
beginning her swim from the South Wales coast.