#4 - The Waters of the World

Vritra is a Vedic serpent or dragon in Hinduism, the personification of drought and adversary of Indra

Vritra lay around the Indus curled ‒

a serpent gaoler of the rivers' foam,

first-born of dragons on a rocky throne ‒

till Indra's gleaming banners were unfurled.

The new-born king of heaven rose and hurled,

with Vishnu's help, a thunderbolt of bone

to break those nine and ninety forts of stone

which captive held the waters of the world.

But dragons rise and heroes fall and still

the waters of the world flow endlessly ‒

for what you cannot catch you cannot kill,

and what you cannot kill is mystery ‒
the rivers of the soul define free will,
which shapes the crooked course of history.

RJT