Three Horses Drink Water at Riverbank

by Chi Le Chuan
     trs. by Wang Ping

One white, one red, one black
Three horses are drinking at the riverbank

They drink at their own pace, some up, some down
Sometimes their heads reach the river at the same time

As if a river were flowing
Out of their mouths

As their minds flow from the river source
Still innocent, clear, undisturbed

The sun is setting slowly
A man watches, without blinking

How a river disappears into the night
Held in the mouths of three horses