I got up early Saturday morning to be able
to get to a swim meet on time. Afraid I'd sleep through
the electronic beep of my radio alarm,
I hadn't slept much the night before, so I was up
at 5 a.m., showered, had breakfast, made certain
my backpack had all the stuff I needed,
then left to catch the 5:45 bus.
A few minutes later, the bus rolled up, a giant
black box on wheels that held its light inside,
a lantern I could sit inside as the beacon
made its way downtown.
After transferring to a second bus
I arrived at an intersection where I walked
a few blocks east to the Ruth Lilly
Recreation Center found an outside entrance
to the pool then sat down to watch the U of I
swim team's morning practice.
On the way, I saw a lot of sculptures
dotting the campus grounds, some of them swooping
into space, others coming out of the ground,
as though born there.
The just emerging dawn lent a fresh feel
to the atmosphere and I felt as though I was
the first to see the world that day,
clean and new, unspoiled by greed and
current events.
