Rivers
In the mountains of my homeland there
are many rivers
They flow through deep gorges
They rarely see the sky
On those rivers there are no floating sails
or river gulls attracted to the sailors’ songs
You have to climb over thousands of peaks
to hear the sound of a river
You need a raft made of giant trees
to sail on those waves
Some places remain unknown to humans forever
Their freedom belongs to eagles alone
The rivers in the rainy season are rough
Wind from the high plateau pushes giant
rocks into the valleys
The soil dyes the rivers red
like blood that flows out of the mountains
in silence
You can see the plateau’s bulging
veins
Those who live on the riverbanks
may never meet
but wherever you go in my
homeland
you’ll hear people talk about the rivers
as if they were talking about their gods