Water of Life

Water of Life

Heel-over in the sky the bent-bow moon

Rises from the crater of the fire goddess,

Where blows the ash of beseeching letters;

Water vapour caps the volcanic cone;

The sky is a deep question by Yves Klein;

The snow liquefies into white water,

Effervesces in the basalt rock grooves,

And runs like white virtue down the incline;

Now there are no rivers on the mountain;

The channels end in a trickling flow;

The water has filtered through the basalt layers,

A soakaway of lava and dark caves,

Frozen floors, ice stalagmites, deep channels,

To well up from the earth in the low lands

In fresh spring water that bursts from the rock;

Cascades with glee in the Shiraito Falls;

Bubbles in the joy of the Shiba River;

A kingfisher feeds a fish to his mate;

A Japanese tree frog rests on rice leaves;

A farmer washes sawa wasabi

In a channel of pure cool spring water;

Thanks the mountain for the water of life

And prays to the water god to protect

Its purity from the foul and filthy.