NATURAE | Page 2

rush of Wind . Then a voice hisses .?WIND: If I may again , Arbiter your pardon , I beseech . Earth rests snugly in repose from core to outlying crust . Earth too has its scions to bear and nurture . My intervention is welcomed in the diaspora of seedlings and efforts of pollination . Thus Earth shall neither lack fresh foliage to clothe its bare soil nor shall I lack labours to attest to my worthiness . ARBITER: Fair assemby , I have so far spoken sparsely . Your contribution has been favourable to our efforts . So it is now that I wish to add to your orations . While we speak Earth unleashes a torrid surprise . Look below you . Molten flaming splinters sprout from funnels , lofty protrusions from surface crust . Springs of ancient wrath spray and fling its repressed fury , heeding not whom or what it incinerates when gravity reclaims lava?s spurts . Roiled dust form smoky plumes , shroud clarity of view , choke and engulf those hopelessly ensnared . Lava is no kin to mercy yet its ashes enriches where it settles , exorcising the curse of previous barrenness . ( A pause .) Proceed with the next willing player . I withdraw and the cue is yours to take .?WIND: Breath that seeps through stitches of fabric , permeates structures , strokes faces with fleeting feathery brushes unseen . A force which reins you aback even as you strain forth . I bend branches and scatter flakes of parched leaves all over the sod . Dry current which flay suspended flags , gushing exhalations that increase swelling of waves , a prelude to nature?s outpourings . When incensed my gusts snatch up loosened surface of an irritated ocean . We unite in a furious enterprise . Together we pummel coastlines with vehement abandon ....... ah .. but that is only a hair?s breadth of my intemperance ! Beware my churning vortex uproots and disbands ! My indiscretion upsets both natural and contrived array for it is I who play the part of howling harbinger in nature?s agitations . ARBITER: Another comes ! What have you to add to this amusing fray ? Speak and we shall bear gladly for you as for all before .?RAIN: I'm the load discharged by the grey underbelly of clouds . Slight melting drops upon uncovered brow's arch , spillover from forehead's incline . I flit like cascading leaves of autumn . Droplets hover at the seams , swiftly absorbed by fibers . Offer your hands , watch drops roll from tips of digits , gathering at the depression of upturned palms then overflowing on to the curvature of wrists . Showers cast a hazy blur over drop zones of its descent . Beads of gravel that coagulate at the base of grassy blades are softened , plumped and liquefied . Aliment seeps into the earth . Every drop eagerly imbibed . A feast which mazes of roots cannot refuse . The remainder , they prudently conserve . I come as torrents broiling with impatience . Ready at the knock when floodgates are unbolted , sprint the instant the aperture fits . When seasons assume their turn in even alteration , I dive to thicken mobs which have descended , not as rain , as flakes initially pristine , then soiled as I melt . Verdant lands testify to my labours but the deserts have hitherto been hesitant .?Wind reenters the scene .?WIND: Be not carried away with regaling tales of your might scions of clouds grey . It is I who sweep you while aloft and guide your trajectory . Deprived of my bolstering breath , you'll be mere dull thuds that litter immaculate slates of earthly calm .?Another enters . Speaks .?SEA: Rain , your drops are trifling trickles compared to the expanse of my form yet you feed me still , with unflinching duty . Replenishing those lost to that implacable torrid torch of day . Think of me not as ungrateful . With a sweeping gesture Arbiter orders peace to those in the forum . Rises to speak . ARBITER: Nature?s luminous sphere can neither boast nor gloat over its lunar glow . Light that it sheds on earth is borrowed from solar effulgence . How may Earth?s turf fluorish or renew itself if denied of sustenance rained down by bellies of weighty clouds ? The sea shan?t hail its fickle tides without alluding it to lunar influence . Elements mercurial evolve from benevolence to presence fearsome . Each stride smoothens each stumble . For every strength , a flaw . An enhancing complement for a vulnerability . For all their imposing sinews , yours are not the governing