Looking
firm and certain in her homeward navigation,
When the
sun is shining low upon the earth attired in snow,
There
emerges she, running towards me.
No barriers
obstruct our way, except a branch that used to sway
Sighs out a
shadow’s crunch we hear under our feet out here
Like a
prompt “I’m sorry”, not a cause to worry
It fades
away so near, oh dear, no fear to disappear
Her name
heraldically rhymes with ‘chandelier’
And
correlates with ‘quicker’, and with ‘seeker’.
And as we
stroll along throughout this air full of frost
We see the
items of this world dispersed across and lost.
Not
quantified how much of it identified by touch, so sweet.
A
perforated ball we sight, and right beside it there’s a trace of sleigh.
A brass-hard
frozen piece of leaf lies to the left in our way.
A birdie’s
feather, hovering, as if in zero gravity
Sent from
some sharpish towering, launched from some secret cavity.
And in this
twilight hour full of power, yet so gentle and incessant,
I see her
run, she’s four years old and she’s indeed a blessing.
She greets
me with her gauntlet’s tap and runs away again.
How will I
shield her, guard her, save her ever from all pain?
Translated by Ostap Dzondza © 2012
