To sit together beside the passing stream

To sit together beside the passing stream

and watch it pass;

if a cloud glides by in the sky,

together to watch it glide;

if a thatched house sends up smoke on the horizon,

to watch it smoke;

if a flower spreads fragrance nearby,

to take on its fragrance;

if a fruit which the bees are tasting

looks sweet, to taste it too;

if a bird in the listening woods

sings, to open our ears;

under the willow where the water murmurs,

to listen to it murmuring;

for the time that this dream endures,

not to feel its duration;

but, having no deep passion

except adoration for one another,

without concern for the world's quarrels,

to ignore them;

and alone together, in the face of all wearying things,

unwearyingly,

to feel love (unlike all things that pass away)

not passing away!