WIND, WATER, STONE

OCTAVIO PAZ

 

Water hollows stone,

wind scatters water,

stone stops the wind.

Water, wind, stone.

 

Wind carves stone,

stone's a cup of water,

water escapes and is wind.

Stone, wind, water.

 

Wind sings in its whirling,

water murmurs going by,

unmoving stone keeps still.

Wind, water, stone.

 

Each is another and no other:

crossing and vanishing

through their empty names:

water, stone, wind.

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