JAH!!!!!
Tek a pikchure of I…
And then laugh
Face upturned towards the leaden
sky
Angry or happy who can say
When nature breaks loose
and starts to play
W’ appen yout’, yuh ‘fraid?
He asked
Face grinning like a mask
Set against the flood
beating out of the heavens
Back arched to extremes
Bare legs splayed and planted
Arms flung wide as if to
embrace the world
I saw him in the gloom
An unmovable thing amidst
the howling wind
Glistening skin stretched over
corded muscle and bone
Grown from hard work and
harder life
He seemed an ancient god
Commanding the thunder of
the skies with the thunder of his voice
The lightning in his eyes mimicked
the light within the clouds
JAH!!!! He boomed
Flash!
Crack!
BOOM!
The rumble rolled like a
mountain threatening to break the Creator’s flooring
And squash us to bits
He laughed again
And again he called
With a voice pregnant with
the elements
Yout’! Come bwoy an watch
yuh modda dance. Shout an mek Jah see yuh bwoy!
I cowered beneath that old
tamarind tree
Watching the laughing mad
man slowly becoming one with the elements
He shook his head
The thick ropes of his
waist length lox moved as if alive
Generating wind of their
own
Tossing water from their
ends
It was true
I was afraid
I was always afraid
I was afraid now of him
And I was afraid of nature’s
carnival
He turned his head to me,
flashed me a smile filled with missing teeth
And said
Yuh musn’t ‘fraid bwoy
cause dominion was given unto man
It was then that the lightning
struck and time stopped
I cried out, but he was
gone
All that was left was the
echo of his laughter
Rolling with the thunder
And a whisper
Yuh musn’t ‘fraid bwoy
Standing in his footprints
Amidst the raging wind and
rain
I released my fear
I released the hold of the
world
And I who used to watch
lightning behind closed lids
Who listened to thunder
behind firmly pressed palms
Who felt the wind through
concrete walls
And touched the rain
beneath galvanized roofs
Planted my feet
Spread my arms
Turned my face upwards
And shouted
JAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Tek a pikchure of I!
Glen
Toussaint 2012©
