Falling Water Poem by Abraham Sutzkever

'Falling water has no depth' —
Thus I heard a sheikh in Dimona.

But when it falls? When it falls, I add,
Its depth
Can drown a river and the moon in the river.

Fall from the mountains,
My borrowed time,
Like a rain,
Fall from the mountains with your childhood music
Toward me,
Before you give yourself back
To your borrower.

Fall like water
Before I rise like fire.

Fall from the mountains
Like a melted mirror,
That already saw
To the depths of its vision.
Before your lord drops his eyelash
And you are no more.

Fall like water
Before I rise like fire.

1968