Once,
When the rains fell,
Its soft teardrops sweetly shedding
Upon my sleek and swiftly flowing skin,
You would take my gifts,
Eat my fish,
And were filled and thankful.
I am the river:
Flow with me.

Once,
While the sun dazzled down,
Sending silver flashes fighting
And strongly shining through my mist falls,
You would touch me, undaunted,
Drink of my waters;
Unfearing, you would thirst no more.
I am the river:
Flow with me.

And once, 
When summer came,
Slowly shimmering its fire and sailing
In splashes that fell, in starlike scintillation,
You would long for my twilight tears,
Swim in my flowing freshness 
And lose your enduring weariness.
I am the river:
I am the river:
I am …

But now,
The filth you have thrown
Flows with my once white sand, filling,
And spoiling my now tarnished shores.
And as you reject me, you hate, you
Drive deeper the nails,
That You hammer into the cross.
I am the river:
Flow with me.
The sea will be our grave.

                                1975