Let Me Know

Let Me Know
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I was eighteen when you went away on the night train
Following your dreams, and mine
Travelling beyond the golden fields
And the pond of waterlilies
Over the shining silver bridge
Where the river runs into the unknown sea

I waved at you till you disappeared
Around the bend in the railway tracks
Beyond the horizon where the white Kaash flowers
Blow gently in the autumn breeze
Till, I could see, not you, but the trail
Of gray smoke saying goodbye from the skies

You went over the mountains
Where the giant rocks heap over the swift river
Where the rapids are impossible to cross
Did you hear the monkeys wailing
Shattering the silence of the kingdom of trees
Do you know your footmarks by our gate are old
And each and everyone is filled by green moss

The mosses are too deep for me to sweep away
It’s already autumn and the leaves are falling once again
The yellow butterfies flutter in pairs
Over the uncut grass in the eastern garden
Over the fallen leaves and creeping spirogyra
My soul aches seeing them flutter and fly

I sit sorrowing alone in this dim room, waiting
Looking for that trail of smoke in the horizon
As I have done for ten autumns that have drifted by
They have filled up the pond of waterlilies
And built a market selling goods from faraway lands
The glowing vermillion of my face is fading

Some day, when you return by the morning train
Write me a letter and let me know
Maybe you will look different
Maybe you will speak a language I do not know
But I will light up this lonely waiting room
Come and stand by the railway tracks
To see the smoke signals from the skies
And listen to the staccato on stone