The Woman at the Well

The woman sallied forth across the hot valley in haste

Drenched in pearls of sweat she saw the well at a distance

Oddly enough she saw someone sitting on the parapet

She waited with her pot under an acacia tree fretfully

      Nothing changed for a while that made her anxious

      Deep in the surrounding thickets, an antelope cried in anguish

      She sensed its predicament of being at the mercy of a predator

      That sent shivers down her spine and pushed her towards the water

Walking towards the well she had a quick retrospective

What a mess she had made of her life in the past

That still continued to chase her like a dreadful poltergeist

She desperately wished to come out of her infamous past

      All the same she felt helpless in untangling the knots

      That had gone to the extent of challenging her existence

      The more she hid herself from the rest of the world

      The more burdensome and guiltier she began to comprehend

Reaching the well she silently lowered her pot into the water

The blue tassels in his clothing rang a bell in her

His Jewish identity made her turn away while lifting the pot

‘Will you give me some water,’ asked the visitor

      Taken aback she stammered, ‘Sir how can a Jew drink from my pot?’

      He retorted, ‘If you ask me I will give you living water’

      She wished to drink the water that would never make her thirsty

      For which the visitor asked her to come with her husband

His clause made her feel restless as she had no husband

Besides, the man told her what she had been doing with her life

Having lived with five husbands and now living with another’s man

She realized she was talking to the Messiah the Promised One

      She put her jar down and ran away to share the world her encounter

      With God who was capable of wiping one’s past and transforming lives

      Understanding her God was not a punishing God but a healing One

      Gave her new hope to live life leaving aside her baggage of remorse