Indwelling
To R. F. on his 80th Birthday
No one has ever heard The song of a brook reply To watersong that startles The listener passing by.
And still the voice of the brook Sings in its varied course, Yet never the self-same voice Reveals the pulse at its source.
Except for a surface freeze And a trickle or two in ice, No one has ever touched Running water twice.
Music falls from the rock That yields not any response. Something like heaven's withheld To be touched, if at all, but once.
I. L. Salomon
SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)