Poetry

A Particle in Perpetual Motion

I.

A dust particle  swayed to the ever-present primordial sound emanating in the vastness of the universe.  Embedded in a blanket of gas, the particle was unaware it would soon embark on a cosmic journey millions of miles long, spanning billions of years.  Call it chance.  Call it destiny.  It landed on a nebula pulled by a passing star, that in time gave birth to planet Earth.

II.

It was on that planet that not so long ago, a man in Kankhal, India came to let loose the ashes of his father.  He stood by his temple’s door, along the bank of the Ganges River opposite the dot-like chain of the Himalaya Mountains.  “Indeed a heavenly site,” he thought, taking in the setting as well as the holy verses written on the temple’s walls.  He swayed as he recited the verses, watching the gentle breeze deliver his father’s precious belongings to the open arms of the river which then, in time, like all rivers, carried them outward to the ocean, the ultimate reservoir for all belongings.

Of course, oceans ultimately rise to become majestic mountains, mountains that experience the never-ending geologic cycle of weathering, erosion, deposition and uplift.  “How wondrous!” the man whispered.  “Within that cycle, a particle of dust that once belonged to my father will be utilized by living beings, by the flora and fauna, yet still remain linked to that first dust particle present when the universe was created!”  The forever circle of mystery that embodies life, the earth, our universe circled his head and heart. “Ahhhh!” he murmured.

Soon it was the time of the first monsoon planting.  The man planted a kiss on the mud-cracked cheeks of earth.  He watched as the first rain drop evaporated into a sweet-smelling misty vapor, called “Sondhi” by his people.  “Sondhi,” he sang softly, swaying on a swing for a long time so the scent could diffuse his every cell, so his Spirit could awaken, so his heart could light with fire.  He imagined the newly formed earth barely visible behind the curtain of rising steam from the lava flows that condensed in to rain drops washing the cheeks of dried earth.  “Since billions and billions of years, I am here, I am everywhere, carrying the scent and the heart on fire.”

III.

Fast forward to yet another pilgrimage by the same man, to Scotland, “The Land of Geologic Enlightenment.”  It was there that James Hutton, “The Father of Geology” pronounced Earth to be a dynamic body in perpetual motion.  The geological processes happening today on earth are the same as those that happened in the past encompassing enormous lengths of time.  His theories emphasized the role of time and space in the evolution of earth

IV.

One gusty, rainy morning, the same man found himself wandering a lonely road along a cliff in Edinburgh.  Call it fate.  Call it destiny.  But a driver stopped, offering a ride.  His aging mother was sitting in the passenger seat.  The man later came to know that she was suffering with Alzheimer.  Her beautiful face clearly exhibited confusion created by life.  The sight of a stranger sitting in the back seat created more uneasiness.  In time the driver offered kindness when he learned of the man’s profound love and respect for James Hutton.  They soon were travelling the less travelled roads Hutton walked, traversing the spectacular rock formations of Salisbury Crags of Holyrood Park.  Along a road cut both enjoyed seeing the interplay of igneous lava flows with the sedimentary rocks.  The driver’s mother appeared to be indifferent to their conversations, yet stared intently at the rock formations through the glass window.

“How wondrous!” the man exclaimed.  The work he had studied during college years was there before him.  Three strangers were looking at the marvel in their own way connected by a common bond of togetherness

The last stop was the National Museum of Scotland where the magical world of the fossil of Ichthyostega awaited him.  “Could it be?” the man wondered, standing quietly.  “Am I really hearing the whispers of the grand dame of the Amphibians whose ancestor some 370 million years ago had the courage to move from water to land?”  The whispers played out like a lullaby, a mantra of sorts that told of the will to survive in a new environment.  They were sustaining words passed on faithfully to others. 

To the man’s surprise, when it was time to take leave of each other, the kind driver’s mother still unsure of the stranger, offered him a warm smile. It seemed to whisper the Ichthyostega’s mantra of embracing the change and the will to survive.

V.

The man walked on to a bridge that overlooked the city of Edinburgh. He looked up at the setting sun and stopped, entranced.  Rain had begun to fall.  He took in the scent of the earth, a dynamic Earth in perpetual motion.  And then he swayed to the OM, the ever-present primordial sound that first rang through the universe billions of years ago.

“I am here, I am everywhere,” he whispered.  “I will survive.”