Reborn

The sandy shore lay around me,
A long expanse of beach to either side.
Waves of salty water rippled forward,
The white foam almost touching my pale toes.
I turned, looking for something, hoping,
But behind me was the stone wall
Enclosing the beach under my feet.

Above me the sky was overcast,
Covered with ominous clouds.
Not a ray of sun spewed forth from the sky,
The world was dismal and drab
While I, standing on the beach,
Was black.

I turned to the sea, rolling swells crested in white,
A vast expanse in which to escape.
Looking to the horizon, it was far away,
And so I lept into the freezing blue water.
The salt seared my eyes, I closed them tight.

Pulling, the sea pulled at me, and tugged,
Wrenched me away. I opened my eyes and
Looked over my shoulder, back to the shore.
The beach got farther and farther away,
Trees grew tiny, houses minute, people indistinguishable.
I screamed, reached out towards land.

The sea vanished, the beach disappeared,
My world dissolved. I was afloat in a black void,
Yet it contained the minutes, the hours, the years.
Time circled around me, future, past, and present,
Accompanied by knowledge, by omniscience,
By death. I reached forth a tentative hand towards
The old bearded man, Knowledge, and he took
My shaking hand in his. The universe was revealed,
in all its magnificence, in all its horror.

All man's suffering, all man's sin, all man's hate,
And love, and fear was mine. Shut up tight
In my lock-key heart, the essence of humanity
Was mine to keep. I sank, and sank, and sank,
Descending into the depths of time. How I longed
For the rain, for the sun, for the grass,
And for the dirt. Almost feeling the cool water pouring
Down my face in a deluge, feeling the warm
Sun on my skin, the wet grass in the morning
Under my toes as I ran across the lawn,
I wanted to go back.

A spark. A flash, and a blinding light.
Back on the beach, I stood facing the sea,
And I turned. I turned towards the wall,
Walked towards it. The stones fit perfectly
Together, gray and blue and black.
I stepped over the wall and onto grass.
Tears streamed down my cheeks,
I turned my face to the sky, to the clouds,
And they burst forth, rain pouring down
Upon me, mingling cool clean rain with my
Salty tears.

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