On Baptism

Over a month ago, while I was still living in South Bend, I was walking home from a friends house at night when it started to rain. Being a lover of rain, I decided to walk around campus and enjoy the weather for a while. I ended up walking around for hours, and it was quite an experience. There was a storm that was approaching the entire time and the heart of it finally reached mine. I stood in the middle of a cemetery while this downpour battered me, and it was one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had. The next day, I wrote quite a three page poem about the night. I decide that one was a bit lengthy for a blog post, but this Sunday was Baptism Sunday at my home church, and out of that service came this retrospective poem:

Baptism

What was I seeking
That night in the rain
When I raised my arms to the torrent
Was I waiting to be washed?
Or just to be swept away?
The heavens
Broke
Over me
They descended
I was immersed
In water and fury
And in that moment
The storm and I knew each other
The water running down my face
Touched my soul
I don't know where the water carried me
I don't know what was washed away
But I emerged
In a world I saw for the first time
With eyes no longer afraid
To see