A Buddhist speaks: a man listens, drinks
and I recall how snow, hanging from a mountain ledge,
forms drops of water sparkling in the sun and mountain air;
now and then, they drop; join together in a trickle;
a little way below, a mountain stream
gurgles, laughs upon its way;
makes a channel in the rock, splashes from the overhangs;
further down below (silent and still from up here, but for
a single bird, wheeling, gliding, in the lower air)
down below – a mighty river plans to form;
how pure its water tastes.