Mr. Keen - The River, I Am Lyrics

Finding release in boiling bubbles, in tumultuous thundering I am
Finding my muse of life in distant destinations, in wild wandering I am
Through rocks and ravines, cracks and crevices, I run night, I run day
I neither bank on anyone's praise, nor do I pause for passionate play
What I am among bats, among bulbuls the same thing I am

Let them flatter me no end, or disparage me, I do not care
I am not scared, I will do that to do what born for I was here
That he might label me a blundering fool, no master serving I am

It is not my way to turn my back, only the forward way do I leave
I'm not a flower that adorn itself must, nor a bulbul that nest must weave
Happy in reverberations and revolutions, in whirlpools thriving I am

Banks and bunds, peaks and pits, all of them, I tear away
The hard and tough obstructions, all of them, I scare away
Over no disputes do I lose heart, and for no fights looking I am

Against what big bulwarks and monstrosities, my own self do I throw!
My scattered self I gather into one, again into myself do I grow
Rending rocks, hammering hills, through woodlands wandering I am

To the clouds I gifted flight, I lent the merciful rains their temperament
It is I who dress up with the blue raiment and purple robes this very firmament
Speaking through the thunder's voice, flashing through the lightning I am

A velvet green carpet on my banks, in equal measure do I cover
For a fresh friend, for a tired labourer, and for the lover of pleasure
There they sit all, and get relief, their hearts with joy filling I am

Let them be rich, or ruling men, Hindu or Muslim let them be
Let them rest, drink, bathe or fill their pots, the river waits for nobody
A mere beggar, one among many, an emperor considering I am

Stifled to see depressions and gaps, to see causeways that cause divide
For a level playing ground is my quest, is why I chase so hard, is why I ride
Though water I am, with these passionate embers smouldering I am

Of arrival and departure, birth and death, no care and sadness do I display
I wonder not who all have come to stay, or miss the ones that passed away
Such fears and anxieties are not for me, no faint-hearted weakling I am

Hardy hearts of rocks I can break, such strong swiftness do I possess
Body of bathing girls, I caress, of hands such softness do I possess
Such straight truth and simple love, in twisted eddies harbouring I am

I play the dulcimer, to the bird and flower, with a sweetness in its sound
Into unmoving hearts of stone, drumbeats of revolution do I pound
Possessing a softness, and a matching harshness, in my gurgling I am

Titans of time, however great, buckle and perish before my waves
I play nurse to flower saplings, I suckle them like they were my babes
Daily sustenance to the cedar and pine, to the cypress life giving I am

By loveliness beset, immense tenderness and playfulness do I show
In graceful streams to the thirsty irises, with drinking water do I go
Sitting silent in placid lakes, images of lotuses capturing I am...

I am...
The river, I am