Excerpt from “Blossoms of Longing”

0500213From the Arjunawiwaha of Mpu Kanwa

If you in the next life are a hawk
I will be dark rainclouds,
that cling to the mountains they pass over,

I will contemplate your tears
as you seek my mist,
watching intently from your perch
high on bare and leafless trees,

When you are about to swoop down on me
I will take shelter
behind a waterfall,

You will taste only my soft, moist spray;
so with the setting sun
I will take revenge for the hardness of your heart.

– from Blossoms of Longing: Ancient Verses of Love and Lament
translated from Old Javanese by Thomas M. Hunter

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