THE DRENCHED SPIRIT

A growing lassitude in my limbs
Heralds the approach of sleep
Oh! How blissful sleep is
The sleep of the just, the sleep of the tired
Of those who deserve it…. earn it…

And as I lie on this patch of grass
Each blade supporting my body
Strong as steel
And yet, fragile in itself…

I feel the first drops of rain
Splatter on my face…
Two gentle drops of water
As pure as fresh dew
Bearing the corrosiveness of acid
Harsh reality, stinging, slapping me back to reality
Product of the deep bosom of the skies

I look up…patiently expectant
A resigned supplicant
For God to reward me
My body recumbent and at peace as never was…
Two more fall
And then two more
Then more…
And then as though the test is o’er and I have reached my destination
The floodgates open
Upon my upturned face
Oh! What a glorious feeling
Naked yet fully clothed
I lie forgetful of al else
But the rain and me…
One embracing the other…
Rejoicing, quenching and being quenched…
Dry land sizzling merrily under its onslaught.

All so washed clean
Sparkling with divine purity.
Just then I felt that with
Those drops of rain
I had been blessed with the same cleanliness
All bitterness, all torture
All pain…. I let drain
Body and soul rejuvenated
One with the elements
I lie there barely breathing…
And dared them to take me, destroy me
But they never did…

Never could fathom Aphrodite
And her mysterious rites
Of her tryst with the foamy waves
That obsession to be clean
Chaste
And her sublime faith in the seas – that water
Till I got caressed, washed
Healed by the soft rain
Its benign hands gently
Rubbed out the creases form my brow
And teased the smile back again…

For hours I lay there
Yet, felt like but a few minutes…
Then memory struck again
“A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are but like an evening gone…”
And then I realized, not surprised
With calm acceptance
The distance
I made, those walls I erected
Was all my own creation
Ones I could just wash away
With the rain of my eyes.

From that moment dawned
A new hope
A new twinkle
A new smile
Oh! How foolish that I had to wait all this while
And just then God smiled
In affirmation
All glorious green, mauve and vermilion
Not only for me
But for all to see
That ever present promise
A continued sojourn
And a bright new morn…