Poem - Easter Water

Sometimes these things just pour out of me. This one occurred as I
sat relishing the lingering effects of porterhouse and cabernet
beneath the warmth of my desk lamp. Times like these, I have trouble
believing they are from my own mind, for they are so emphatic in their
desire to break free onto paper. Regardless of their source, however,
they must be shared.

EASTER WATER
2009040461 c2009 wlc

The sweat trickles down the side of the glass
Catching the light
As it slides down the smooth surface
Gliding
Lost in a sea of its own tears
Mesmerized
By the crystalline resemblance it bears
Where else can it go but down
Ever down until it hits bottom
The drops, they hang there
Dangling at the edge of the glass
A moment of indecision
Then one by one, they fall
Plop, plop, plop
Slowly drying upon the desk
On which they landed
Happy now to be at a standstill
No longer agile
Simply waiting for the air to take them
Molecule
By molecule.

The ice cubes sit and wonder
What's it like?
Down there, upon the table
Evaporating
Waiting, as they are, for Death?

But no, cry the droplets.
It is not Death, but Life;
Even as we disappear,
We reappear,
Invisible to the naked eye
But in existence even when it seemed we left.

How so? cry the cubes, slowly melting into water,
For their fear of their own demise was great
Swimming in their own pool
Of perceived extinction.

Open your mind, reply the droplets.
Did you not notice us appear upon the glass?
Did you not watch as we solidified
Seemingly from thin air?

Why yes, saieth the cubes.
We noticed this miracle.
How, then, is this so?

Listen, and learn, the droplets reply.
We shall tell you - it is no miracle.
But you will not understand
Until you yourself have done this feat.

Tell us! plead the cubes.

So we will, promise the droplets.

Once we were cubes, like you.
Swimming in a beverage.
Slowly melting,
Turning into water.

We have seen this! exclaim the cubes,
Slowly beginning to understand.
Parts of ourselves have already succumbed to this fate.
So how did you escape the prison of the sea?
Pray, tell us! they cry.

Patience, cubes. Listen!
Once we melted as you are doing.
We turned to water.
The air then took us!
But 'twas far from death!
Rejoice in what you have to look forward to!
You will become minute,
Broken up into tiny little fragments.
Floating purposefully, yet without direction
And then, one day,
Your fragments will collide.
You will combine with one another
Unified and whole in your parts
As sweat upon a glass
Or pouring down as rain
And you will be forever
A family of atoms.

The cubes,
Still melting in the drink in which they swam,
Ponder for a moment.
Thank you, say they, to the droplets.
We think we understand.
It is good to know there is life where we're headed,
But truly, as you said,
We will not fully understand until we reach where you have been.
Will we?

And as these last words of wisdom
Tumbled out of the glass
The droplets' last few atoms answer faintly,

No, you won't.
You must experience this great Truth for yourself,
And have faith until you do.