California Swimming Pool
by Sharon Olds
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At a glance:
- Author: Sharon Olds
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Poem: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Girls, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Adolescence, Sex or sexuality, California, West, U.S., Youth, Boys, Swimming or swimmers, Crocodiles, Recreation, Reptiles
The Poem
“California Swimming Pool” is a short poem in free verse. It is made up of five long, descriptive sentences, which form one stanza. In it, the poet evokes the mood—the sounds, the sights, the atmosphere, and the intrigue—of summer afternoons at a public swimming pool.
The scene is described from a young girl’s perspective, most likely a girl approaching puberty. She speaks informally in the first person, remembering the scene, using the conversational “you” to describe the place and what she did and saw there. Sharon Olds often describes personal...
(The entire page is 1470 words.)
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