SunbathingAuthor(s): Jack MyersSource: The Iowa Review, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer, 1974), p. 19Published by: University of IowaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20158252 .

Accessed: 17/06/2014 15:22

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

University of Iowa is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Iowa Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.176 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 15:22:31 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

SUNBATHING

We've reached the ocean and one son

is laughing as he watches the surface

of water fly back to itself. He's overcoming fear. The other son is so small and happy

when he reaches out to strangers, they leave

themselves for love.

My wife and I are on the hard-packed mud

hoping no one knows us. It's hard to explain our lives, why the invisible makes us feel

secure, armored like the crab with feelers

and a trapdoor over its heart.

When no one comes, we know we've come back

to watch our children judge us. They think

we're so perfect, we've brought our bodies out

to burn in the sun.

19 Jack Myers

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.176 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 15:22:31 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions