Frozen autumn leaves
Frost the path before me;
Hoar hovers over
Naked trees;
/
In wan wintry skies
Briefly rests the night
Before once again
Filling the eyes to the brim;
/
And the snow won’t fall,
And the sun won’t rise –
Naught would light the true face
Of this moment in time
/
When the past is gone,
While the future fears
To step on the same path
As I
Where have you carried me now,
Wings?
If I stay here, I will
Freeze,
If I leave, I will bear on my scarred face
For years
The haunting stamp of what I’ve
Seen;
And nobody will come
Close
To someone, whose eyes are home
To ghosts;
/
Much too far you have carried me,
Wings,
Much too close
To the other side;
Much too brave I have been
Where I should have been wise;
Now it’s too late to listen
To fear
Or to hope to survive
This flight
Sleep like a star in the sky,
Your glow,
Frozen in flight,
/
Where it’s cold, mortally cold,
Where it’s cold
Forever
/
Don’t be afraid of the wind –
It won’t pierce you,
/
Don’t be afraid of the snow –
It won’t hide
/
You from the heart, which continues
To love you
/
Or from the eyes, which still search
For your light
/
Fear not the ice for soon
You’ll become like it,
/
Solid yet frail under the touch
Of warmth,
/
Fear not the rocks, which, like you,
Rest suspended
/
In capsules of time till they
Suddenly fall
/
Dread not my voice or the words
I am saying,
/
Breathe through the pain
They inspire in you;
/
This lullaby is for those,
Already sleeping,
/
I let you hear it
Only because I knew
/
You would
Never listen
Cold, you, at least,
Will never leave me;
Asleep, the world around us
Doesn’t hear
/
Your icy voice
And your heart-breaking whisper,
Finding its way under my skin
Through all the scars, which it is covered with
/
Cold, you, at least,
Have never disappointed
My expectations, and when I thought
You’d claw your way into my lukewarm dreams
/
You did – relentlessly –
I knew that it was pointless
To hide or fight: I would get lost or tired
And you, the patient one, would win
/
Cold, you, at least,
I feel I can rely on
To take away my will to see
The dawn, and slowly breathe it in
/
When my last sunset comes
Your firming grip will not surprise me;
It will be only you and I –
As it has always been
And water shall remain
Water,
Having absorbed the pains
And sorrows,
Which tortured what I used
To be
/
And I’ll become myself –
Freedom –
Having turned icy waves
Into wings,
Which’ll carry to the deep,
Slowly
/
The shell, which is now void
Of me
