JOB'S DELUGE

JOB'S DELUGE

And suddenly there were no more
chatters and giggles at dinner's table,
No more "mum please some more"
From across the table.

And suddenly there were no more
Banters from the guy's corners,
With me at the behest of its core,
The ashes drew my lines: my borders.

And suddenly there were no more
Salutations and greetings in marketplaces
I was now a myth of no consequences,
The ashes drew my lines: my borders.

And suddenly they were no more
Folks that held my cloaks,
Whose shoulders carried my pride,
Whose clothes wiped at my strides.

And suddenly I was no longer her pride,
Her smile was longer mine to behold,
It was as though my life had hers on a hold,
She wished I had just died.

She didn't observe the courtesy
We're both hurting can't you see?
Tears trickled down my face
"Just die" was her favourite phrase.

I had lost it all in the blast
In a moment's breath, the boys drew their last.
An inferno had stolen my class,
I had now become as leaves of a grass.

An irony, a paradox; an incredible thing,
I had become another being
I had become him
An incredible thing.

I watched him as he aged
This was a mystery too great to stage
He had become ancient all too sudden
In just one moment's burden.

He was the man in the mirror,
But he wasn't me.
He was the scarcest token of my existence.
Now he was me.

And suddenly they were no more
Shadows that followed me,
The thing I feared the most had become me,
After the deluge I was no more.

I finally looked up to see three shadows,
Familiar faces that once followed;
Saw my sorrows
And they called it karma.

- Kingsley Dominic