GIVE ME A VOICE TO RAISE AWARENESS

BY FERNANDO PELAYO BRAMBILA

I’ve known you since your conception,
many times I have quenched your thirst.
I often travel with you
many of your daily needs are satisfied in me.

I am constantly a mirror, an attraction, a distraction …
I’ve been swallowed, boiled, frozen, flushed …
I summon all creatures to be satisfied.
When I am cold, I sweat.

I tend to run down, but I find my way up.
All colors are revealed in me with the help of light.
The sun, the wind, and I have a lasting relationship.
In a moment I change from solid to liquid to vapor.

There is no army like the one I form,
I have put out many fires.
When it comes to moving soil, I have no contender.
If I am unleashed, I cut through earth.

Without me, the lake becomes a valley.
In my absence the islands turn to hills.
The valleys are filled with minerals I deliver.
In my presence, you rejoice sailing, surfing, cruising …

Do not I color the sky every day?
Can you imagine a feast without a drink?
Won’t you find me in an oasis, a spring, or a well?
Do you know my length, height, width — which fluctuate?

My reward is your success.
I give a ride and charge you not.
You would not stand without me,
in your bed I shape to your body’s shape

I am the limit, the border, and dispute of nations.
In your attic and basement, I am a problem.
I am often blamed for dry rot, drought, floods …
though I cause destruction, I am innocent.

If you cannot swim, do not cast yourself in.
I have been blamed for disaster and death.
On the road, I am dangerous,
I can be the one to run to or to run from.

When you attempt to capture me, I tend to vanish.
Air, wind, heat, gravity, and condensation are my companions.
To your benefit, I ascend and descend and decorate your land
I cycle and transform the entire globe.

If you push me, I will resist you.
In hail I am as hard as a rock.
I am a broad highway to many.
Multitudes call me “home.”

I am free, but you pay for me.
Wrong use and you’ll be sorry.
Breathe and drink, but not simultaneously.
I boil for a reason.

At my arrival many awake.
I hide in the snow.
Under pressure I flow.
You will fail in trying to burn me.

Avoid me when I am steaming hot.
Unaware of the dangers, you come to me.
I’ll be transparent, my head and tail are similar.
You could not swim in my absence.

You advocate to keep me free of pollution,
but I rest in your toilet, awaiting urine and defecation.
Some say I am tasteless; others presume my flavor.
I don’t need to seek thee for you return to me.

Once in mud but now I am purified.
I am seamless, shapeless, relentless.
A puddle may be my resting place
until I arise to continue my race.

Too much of me in your food turns it into soup.
Limited as a drop, unstoppable as a body,
no one notices when I depart.
I am globally recycled at God’s will.

In your gasoline, I am bad news.
In your ears, I am annoying.
But I am the moisture in your eyes, ears, nose, body.
I defeat gravity, but I also use it.

I am best in my natural stage: clean, refreshing, satisfying — the same can be said about endless products and processes that take place in nature.

I am a fraction of an inch in a mile of nature, but nature is a fraction of an inch in a mile-long creation. Enjoy rain, snow, hail, seas, oceans, lakes, rivers, storms, fog, breeze, and all that nature offers and consider the fraction of a mile of comments said about me, but look up and adore the Creator of all, including me. | FPB

FERNANDO PELAYO BRAMBILA WRITES: “MY ASSURANCE RESTS ON THE WORD GIVEN TO US IN THE SCRIPTURE, WRITTEN FOR OUR BENEFIT.” HE IS FROM JALISCO, MEXICO AND SPANISH IS HIS FIRST LANGUAGE.