Baptism

Living Water

as in a shower,
    warm and cleansing
    therapeutic to the body

as in a summer cloudburst,
    warm and refreshing
    cleansing the air and giving life to the earth

as under a waterfall,
    strong, powerful,
    eroding the ground beneath

as winter sleet
    abrasive and abusive
    chasing us back to shelter

as a mountain stream
    abundant with elusive life,
    frigid to the touch

as throughout algae-covered lakes,
    seemingly stagnent
    yet alive at the surface
        and at every level beneath as well

as in the ocean
    vast and encompassing
    pounding relentlessly on the safety of dry land

Baptism, Living Water.