Baptism on Jordan River

1.
I splash water from Jordan River
For my own baptism
When I step up from the river bank
I see the road in front of me
The sins’ shadow standing in line to the horizon
Calling me, mesmerizing me
And threatening

2.
Someone told me
“The water is dirty, why would you wash with it?”

No water can wash off the sins
It has to be tears
If tears cannot wash them
We have to wash with our own blood

3.
Many have come
Politicians, intellectuals
Poets, the disables
And murderers
Submerge in the stream
Then have the illusion
That their sins were washed clean

4.
Then there are many
Came to this river
To get baptized
Then come back
To commit sins on another river.


By the Bank of Jordan, June 4th 2023

[Thông tin 1 nguồn tham khảo đã được ẩn]
"Vũ tâm son sắt giữa đất trời,
Phong sương mặc kệ, chí chẳng vơi.
Lĩnh cao một cõi hiên ngang đứng,
Soi rọi nghìn năm đất muôn nơi."