SOMETIMES

Sometimes, when a bird cries out,
Or the wind sweeps through a tree,
Or a dog howls in a far off farm,
I hold still and listen a long time.

My soul turns and goes back to the place
Where, a thousand forgotten years ago,
The bird and the blowing wind
Were like me, and were my brothers.

My soul turns into a tree,
And an animal, and a cloud bank.
Then changed and odd it comes home
And asks me questions. What should I reply?

- Hermann Hesse

translated by Robert Bly

Last | Next
Home | List | Titles | Links

Copyright © 2000 - 2009 The Poets' Tree: A Celebration of Poetry. All rights reserved.

Spider Map Index