the river is so tranquil
you can hear the catfish leaping;
voices tinkling in air
strings of little bells;
a violin, tender, sorrowful,
confiding in the placid stream,
delicate and diffident,
a young musician practising;
the creaking of a heron
winging home to roost
where mangroves meet
the viscous sheen on water,
and salute the new moon's lyre;
light years keep transmitting
cypher from afar;
polyphonic filaments braid sound-
scape with the glyphs of stars…