WATER VEIN IV WATERFALL Poem by Masayo Koike

‘I know where a waterfall is'
Said the mountain man
His eyes were without doubt
Eyes that knew where the waterfall was

But this was
Not something that he could teach others by opening a map
With silence folded
Inside the mountain man
For many years and months
‘I know where a waterfall is.'
When he said this for the first time
Together with the sound of water splashing
A calm wisdom overflowed to the outside

Those who heard this no matter who
Recalled themselves travelling far away
Seeking for water

There was no one to ask, ‘where?'
There is a waterfall -
As if it is enough just to hope that there is a waterfall
Travellers raise their heavy bodies
And set out on the path to the waterfall
One by one, each
Heading in a completely different direction