***

When your lips are but a half a breath away,

when your lips are but a half a step away—

your pupils are woven in wonderment,

your eyes are blue and wide.

You whisper something enchantingly and quietly,

and that whisper coolly cuts my silence!

And I forget now how to breathe

and how to walk, I too forget.

And your eyelids’ black bird rises

and takes my confidence away.

A half-step still untaken,

a half-breath mired along the way.

Your pupils are woven in wonderment,

your eyes are blue and wide . . .

But your lips remain a half a breath away,

your lips remain a half a step away.

Translated by Mark Andryczyk