White Clouds

White clouds Morphing wonderfully Watch those bears Changing into Rows of elephants Shaping like A frail old man standing Rearranging into children Playing with balloons. White clouds Sway on cradle of the wind Occasionally shrivel With toil and sadness At times inflate With joy and gladness Never forget Heaven nor earth They lie pendent Between the two worlds. White clouds Strolling since eternity Telling strange fables Of grand olden dwellings With a world of ancient souls When there was nothing, but A fluid of light, A landscape of mist And a suspended caravan Of several ages. White clouds, now Moulding into sombre faces, become Storms sulking on the horizon. Thousands of maladies thrive Above and underneath the land. White clouds Course through hearts, Surging in The plasma flow of vessels. (1990, Translated by Sameer Ahmed, Translation reviewed by Lillian Thomas)