When I am warm and bright,
But if I'm hot and strong
Each flower drops its head,
And gardeners complain
And wish for rain instead.
(Sun)
The snow is thawing,
The rivers start flowing,
The birds arriving,
When does it happen?
(Spring)
The rye fields are ripening,
The heavens are shining,
The birds are rejoicing.
When does it happen?
(Summer)
What is it
That makes tears without sorrow
And takes its journey to heaven?
(Smoke)
I am the black child of a white father,
A wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven.
I give birth to tears of mourning in pupils that meet me,
Even though there is no cause for grief,
And at once on my birth
I am dissolved into air.
(Smoke)
My mother has a sheet
Which she cannot double.
My father has so much money
To count it is trouble.
(Sky and Stars)
What can go through the water and yet
Not ever become the least bit wet?
(Sunshine)
You break it
Even if you name it.
(Silence)
What is always coming, but never arrives?
(Tomorrow)
What eats rocks,
Levels mountains,
Rusts metal,
Pushes the clouds
Across the sky,
And can make a young man old?
(Time)
Mountains will crumble and temples will fall,
And no man can survive its endless call.
(Time)