YMCA Aqua Zumba Substitute Teacher

Gaby Bedetti

In the water we natter about trips and surgeries,

until a newcomer in sweats and a ball cap circles

the pool and distracts us from our prattle.

We watch in wonder as he steps out of his clothes,

a David statue in swim trunks. Furtive sea turtles,

we turn to each other, look back at him, look away.

Our teacher joins us, a figure of perfection come to life.

He shows how to lead with our hips. Our shuffles turn

into grapevines as we watch his shoulders shimmying.

Synchronized swimmers, we turn the pool into a rollin’ river,

ten times enabled, we boost ourselves up out of the water,

aqua Zumba boot camp dolphins trilling in disbelief.

For the cooldown, Whit sings spirituals in a deep

bass, “Oh, Shenandoah, away, we’re bound away”

and counts the final seconds down on his fingers.

Gaby Bedetti married a poet she met at a literature conference in Louisville, and together they raised a couple of kids. Henri Meschonnic's American translator, she has published in such journals as Off the Coast, Italian Americana, The Voices Project, and Poet Lore. For the past four years she has written a poem a day in June for her town’s poetry blog http://lexpomo.com/. When she is not teaching at Eastern Kentucky University, she hikes, takes photos, plants trees, and sings in several choirs.