THE TIGRIS AND THE EUPHRATES

They Were One

On the summit of the mighty mountain,

they were whole, they were one.

Staying at the summit was hard.

They began to flow downward.

Tigris said, “I’ll flow from this side,” 

Euphrates said, “Then I’ll flow from that side.”

As they flowed downward, they split into two arms.

The lower they went, duality came between them.

One became good, the other evil.

One ugly, the other beautiful.

One sin, the other virtue.

One right, the other wrong.

Then wrong grew jealous of right,

Because down below, it was always excluded.

Yet it, too, gave life to Mesopotamia,

And it, too, was another name for truth.

Conflicts began.

Arguments prolonged.

The one who watched from the source gazed on innocently,

For beyond, the divided would unite again.

They flowed into Basra.

And once they joined the source again

Neither goodness nor evil remained.

Emine NALÇACI MAVİŞ