*

when you come dangerously close
the garden is full of slippery snow

on the dark eaves a rook croaks
its vanishing youth
its rough guttural voice lingers
to finish this day
the last snow before the warm spring
lingers to begin our life

the look in your brown eyes
is like tree-bark
that the sun seeps through
and your mouth melts the last flakes of fear
from my lips

below my chin
on my throat
there is an everlasting light spot
from my water lily white years
and no desire
or touch that makes me blush all over
can wipe it away
it isn’t snow and so it won’t melt
even in warmth such as this

when the garden is full of slippery snow
and two ugly ducklings
notice themselves
in the mirror of each other’s eyes

– Translated from the Estonian by Ilmar Lehtpere