As long as...

As long as we've got water, where the fish swims
As long as we've got land, where the deer goes to and glazes
As long as we've got jungles, where the wild animals can hide themselves
Are we safe on this earth.

When the hide place is gone and the planes are destroyed
- Where shall we be then?

Our own land, our living bread, has got smaller
Mountain waters have sunk
Rivers have dried out
The streams are singing with sorrow in their voice
The fields are getting black, the grass is withering
The birds are quiet and flying.

Things we've earned
Don't touch our hearts
The thing that was supposed to make everything so easy
Have no value.

Painfull, is walking
On hard stoneways
Silently, are mountain people crying
While the time hurries
Dilutes the blood
The language doesn't ring anymore
The water stops waving.


Poem by: Paulus Utsi (1918-1975)
Translated by: Atousa Gharvan