What They Say (For My Friend Baharak) Poem by Daniel Brick

They say all the waters
of the Earth converge
beneath this place

They say the winds
of the four quarters
of the World begin
in the forest enclosing you

They say nowhere is
there bluer sky than
the sky above you

They say veins
of precious metals
abound in the rocks
on which you stand

They say the four seasons
agreed to cycle through the year
when time gathered them in this space

They say the first woman and
the first man to embrace in passion
left their cries and sighs
in the air you are now breathing

They say female poets
rendered mute by catastrophe
became the earliest Muses
when they became one with this place

They say male poets
who wrote only war epics
invented lyric poetry here
when the Muses touched them

They say what must be said
is said here, and what must be heard
is heard here, without end

They say if this place lives
in your heart when you return
to the World, you will live a pure life