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The winds of change blow hard

Rattling my windows

Shaking every tree in my yard

I flinch under the covers

Frightened and sick.

**

I try to shut out the howling storm

But it will not be ignored

One by one the windows shatter

And my blanket of safety gets whipped up in the breeze

I hug and hold onto it for dear life

But the wind, it takes no prisoners

The blanket is ripped clean out of my trembling hands.

**

I shut my eyes and bury my face in my knees

Afraid of what is to come next

A minute turns into an hour

As I sit there waiting for the worst

My hammering heart shuts out the calm

That has descended all around me.

**

I dare to open my eyes and peek

At the place I once called home

It was all but a mangled heap

Of concrete and stone

And yet there I was amidst the shambles

Alive and well albeit a little shaken.

**

I picked myself up and shed a tear

For the past that was gone

I looked up at the gaping hole where my roof used to sit

And at the clouds that were clearing

Far away in the shadow of the sun a rainbow was forming

Awakening in me hope for the future

A future built from scratch

A future with no glass windows or roofs

Open and free for the winds of change to blow through

Incessantly.

**

Damayanti Chandrasekhar lives in Florida with her husband and two children,  loves yoga, baking and the Tao. She has a Masters degree in Journalism and currently volunteers at the local public school.  Her other interests include reading, travelling and playing agony aunt via her blog www.punctuatelife.com.