Disappearance of the illusion

[Guest guest]

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You were once a swan singing

melodies, Lalla. Now you're quiet.

 

Someone, I don't know who, has run off

with what belonged to you.

 

The millstone stops, and the hole

where the grain is fed in fills

 

with grain. The channel leading

to the grinding work is covered over

 

and hidden, and the miller

himself has disappeared.

 

- Lalla

14th Century North Indian mystic

 

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From " Naked Song "

Versions by Coleman Barks

Maypop, 1992