Rain boots in red, the same color as her umbrella, she dances in rain puddles, to celebrate her joy. Unhindered and carefree, the rain is like confetti, on a beautiful spring day. Her laughter is contagious, forcing my lips into a smile, and my heart flutters, on wings of love. Dancing in the rain, is like skipping on cobblestones, with your arms spread, the wind in your hair, and the sun on your face. I feel butterflies in my soul, and for a moment, one sweet moment, I forget the world, and dance, under my red umbrella!
The rain has created pools of water, for me to jump in with my yellow boots. My red umbrella I hold high above my head, as I move my feet through the mud, jumping around as if I am making pirouettes. The thick rain drops slowly land on my face, as a smile curves my lips and erupts into laughter. My heart is a child again if only for a minute, growing younger by every passing second. For that is what silliness does to the soul, it turns around the aging process, cleaning the mind of all negative thoughts, as it begins to feel alive again – a clean slate where all the dirt is washed away. Born again like a butterfly from a cocoon, is the metamorphosis that comes from laughter. The laughter that springs from deep within the earth, like a geyser that erupts his steam in full force. If only we could let go of the adult inside of us, forcing us to behave a different way than we feel, only because this is asked of us in a cripple society. I spread my arms as if I fly like the birds in the sky, as I feel the wind brushing my hair in waves, allowing me to feel free from all that is holding me, all that is imprisoning my emotional state of mind. To be a child again is a gift to the soul, where we learn to let go of the adult inside, to discover that it is not too late to feel alive.
Poppies grow in an open meadow, where my bare feet walk the high grass. The soft wind brushes my hair, and tickles my skin until I have goosebumps. I sway my white dress on the sound, of soft piano music playing in the background, and I smile like the sun shining in the sky. Happiness is a feeling of peace and light, born deep in the heart in the middle of spring. Choices cause us to grow like wildflowers – like poppies they drench us in our own blood, until we shine brighter than the great eastern sun. I choose to be happy in this moment, where the summer smiles at me, in the silence of complete solitude. I find a place under a tree on the hill, where I sit down and meditate, so I can hold onto to this moment a little longer. My hands are open ready to receive, the greatest blessing Heaven can give me, but in this moment of patient waiting, I learn to close my eyes and feel the Spirit, whispering softly in the summer winds. As I gently flutter my eye-lids open, the red poppies smile at me, as they fill me with the deepest peace. Letting go of the past and the future, forces me to live in the moment of this day, where I learn to dance in the rain, with my arms and my heart wide open, until every cell is filled the deepest sense of joy. And in this moment of pure enlightenment, I learn that the cross is never heavier, than my own heart can bare, and that my heart is so much stronger, than I could ever imagine!
Gineke van Keulen 