Reece Burkaauthor

The poetic city: “Stumbling Upon The Divine In A Propitious Moment On The Ring Levee Trail 12/25/19”

A drop of water can cause ripples seen and unseen (Photo: Wiki Commons)

Stumbling Upon The Divine In A Propitious Moment On The Ring Levee Trail    12/25/19

 

Just as the drizzle comes to an end

The sun breaks through the cloud cover 

and a raindrop makes a soft landing 

atop the smooth green carpet of algae

covering the swamp as far as the eye can see. 

 

The drop does not have long  

before it will slip into the water below, 

so it gets right to work.

 

That’s where I come into the picture

as I do my slow walk along a trail 

that always puts me in a state 

of timeless wonder. 

 

Lucky for me… lucky for the drop, 

all the elements are in place

for an encounter so rare, so ordinary, 

and so easily missed. 

 

At first it is an unexpected flash of red

that pulls me from my reverie, 

piques my curiosity, and forces me to 

carefully retrace my steps back and forth 

until I get another flash of color. 

 

This time it’s yellow; next it’s green; then blue…

until all the colors of the rainbow dance before 

my eyes. 

 

When I look up I realize that the entire swamp 

is dotted with jewels of color emanating from

raindrops caught in their evanescent moment. 

 

I am stunned… I am delighted… I am exalted. 

 

By the time I finish my walk 

all the drops have disappeared. 

 

But every so often I find them in the morning dew, 

in the spray of sprinklers, and in the splashes of children 

playing in their pools.

 

“And if I am lucky I will find them again one day

while slowly walking the Ring Levee Trail in Jean Lafitte Park 

just after a light drizzle, as the sun breaks through 

the cloud cover… now that I know what to look for.