The River's Two Shores

In that night
not just one person swam across the river
On the other shore fire mounds crackled
Trees’ shadows
floated as if imperceptible
A person spoke loudly,
all eyes silently shut
The tree of myth all at once lost its leaves

The river was deep and serene
whose eyesight could penetrate it,
who believed sour dates and fish's sleep-talk?
On top of the precipice
only mountain spirits
chants that repeated again and again
The people, soles dancing wildly
after trampling the withered tree roots
suddenly halted
The flint was continuously struck,
many faces never made out clearly

In that night
not just one person swam across the river
For a long long time
the sound of arms plowing through the water carried on

Shama 沙马 - Yi poet from China's southwest

from The Olive Tree in a Dream