Selkie Swim

Selkie Swim

Parting mists/and eagles glide

the dawn is breaking/and Selkies slide

into the river/in this liminal time

they sing their song/their swim a rhyme

to welcome the day/farewell the night

wash off from dreamland/and greet the bright

light of the sunscape/the creatures of morn

the spells of the day/they are reborn

with a slip in cool waters/they are sisters

they are daughters/River combing their hair

this is the song and the prayer/of early morning swimmers

the Selkies, the seals

Won’t you come join?/Feel how it heals?

Selkies are the seal-folk of the north seas, a Scottish version of mermaids. In their spirit, I invite my sisters to join me on the dock of the Illinois River before breakfast. With love and intention, let’s encourage each other into the cool, life-giving water, and greet the day with a rush of joy and sisterhood! I will be there to sing, discuss dreams, and hold space for silent thoughts, but sisters are welcome to come and go as they wish. Mama bears, I am happy to hold your little one while you take a quick dip. I suggest bringing a towel and hot tea, perhaps a journal. I will have a carafe of hot coffee!

Photo by Tookie.

Selkie Swim will be shared by Courtney Wallace Stokes.