Weakness

Let the rain pour down, the sound is soothing. On a quiet rainy night she walked down the street from her house, umbrella lying lazily on her left shoulder, shielding her hair and face, forgetting the front of her jacket. She walked past a man in a suit, running for cover with his briefcase on his head and a woman who had tied a plastic bag on her hair, that weave cost a penny! The kiosk down the road was starting to close, she smiled tightly at the owner as he nodded at her. Invisible, oh to be invisible right now. She stopped at the junction and looked left, then right. Deciding to go left, she began her slow walk down the side walk and let her mind work.


'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong'.* Then maybe I'm weak, she sighed.Instantly, another memory flashed through her mind, causing her to inhale and exhale. Pulling on the breath till it filled her lungs and then letting it out slowly. She cringed on the inside and shook her head, how embarrassing. She didn't realize she had stopped and was standing still in a pool of water until it started seeping through her boots. Hissing at herself, she continued her walk, stopping every time another memory came, every time another image appeared and every time another emotion reared itself.

On her way back home, the street lights were dim and the kiosk was a mass of blackness on the street. No one was around and she truly felt invisible. Suddenly, words began to spill from her mind out onto the street, playing hop-scotch on the side walk, running around her and making her dizzy, playing tag with each other even though she was It. Then slowly, the chant began as a low hum until it filled the air around her and the street was alive with it:

Took me to the far wind and knocked me flat
turned me upside down and in and out
tied me to the heat of the midnight spring
touched my body and mind till I sing
tasted the fruit of my entire womanhood
tongued the lips and flesh till it was good
threw me apart and pierced me together
told me you love me and we'll be forever

Over and over they sang and danced till they formed a wide circle around her that began to close in on her,

threw me apart and pierced me together
told me you love me and we'll be forever
Breathless, she reached out with her right hand as if to stop the air from running away, she didn't realize she had stopped until the need to run after her breath consumed her. In abandon, she ran until she broke through the circle of words. Feeling the air, needing it, she inhaled in as much her lungs could hold and was reluctant to let it out, but had to. At least for now the chanting had stopped. She continued on her way home.


*Gandhi