Cuba, 1993

THE VOICE THAT BEAUTIFIES THE LAND

The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice above,
the voice of the thunder,
among the dark clouds
again and again it sounds,
the voice that beautifies the land.

The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice below,
the voice of the grasshopper,
among the flowers and grasses
again and again it sounds,
the voice that beautifies the land.

Washing on Matthews


LOVE SONG

Early I rose
in the blue morning;
my love was up before me,
it came running up to me from doorways
of the Down.

On Papago Mountain
the dying quarry
looked at me with my love’s eyes.

Mary Austin