Water I

The water of life runs
In my veins; I hold my
Pains close to me like rubies
And ask what is it I
Do here, what purpose is
Served by my breath.  No
Answer comes except the daily
Passage of the hours and my
Footsteps in the dust.  The song
Never ends, even when the
Note ceases here and crosses
To far shores - an echo of it
Reaches me, its soft effort
To imbue hope for my own life.
Here the time is both
Hard and heavy and I
Bear it unworthily -
Baptised by pain, immersed
In fire I climb still the
Rocky faces of my mountain,
Wondering if I will ever
Be happy be free and not
Thirsty.

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