Tell Me No More of Enchanted Days

I was the child who danced in the rain, Unseen and unhinged, it was nothing new. Jumping in puddles in smelly rubber boots, Never scolded, never shunned, just warned; Don't fall sick, always change your clothes. There were earthworms to dangle on a stick Tadpoles in ponds to watch for days, Steamy soup for fingers shriveled and cold. I was the girl who walked in the rain, There were others too, giggling and teasing, Hormones raging, strength in groups. Long walks around deserted roads, Wet shirts we were ashamed were clinging To our growing bodies, fear sometimes When we grew too bold, flushed cheeks For strange boys who sat too close. I was the one who chided lovers, Dared them to be reckless, hold hands, Don't be scared, let's go on your bike, The pellets lashing our eyes, entangled hair, Always believing foolishly, the water Would unite us, the cloudy breath create memories, warmth for older days to come. I'm the woman who is the rain,

Leave my sadness behind me Let sweet paradise find me Heaven waits over yonder Take me to Aruanda Take me to Aruanda.. - Take me to Aruanda, Astrid Gilberto Aruanda is that place beyond the sky, your own personal heaven or spiritual retreat, where you can escape when the world seems too much to bear. When my process of meditation started two years back, I stumbled upon mine. It was a soft, green cliff overlooking the sea below. I would lay there, looking at the clouds and blue sky, seagulls, listening to the waves, mostly gentle, sometimes wild, depending on my state of mind. Sometimes strangers joined me there, people I've never met, maybe ancestors or soul travellers and I would gently have to request them to leave because this was my place, only mine. I learnt how to shield myself in this place and keep unwanted energies out. Does this place exist in reality? I don't know because I've never been there. But it doesn't even matter, because whe