and then I realized even in the telling
towards the truth but not so surely
dark water calling
the far shore way across
till my someday arrived
deeper and beyond walking
swimming, swimming
beyond the rope’s marker
father ahead
father beside
father’s words a buoy
finally finding that rock
found for me
hard breaths, heart pumping.
I did it. We did it.
made a memory
a good one at last.
Judy DeCroce is a poet / flash fiction writer and avid reader. She has been published in Plato’s Cave online, Pilcrow & Dagger, Amethyst Review, The Sunlight Press, and many others. She is a professional storyteller and teacher of that genre, as well as, leading workshops in flash fiction. Judy lives and works in upstate New York with her husband writer/artist Antoni Ooto.
© 2019, Judy DeCroce
Halfway Down the Stairs 