Marina Tsvetaeva
Girlfriend. 15. I want to peer into the mirror...

I want to peer into the mirror,
into the darkness and mist of dreams,
and discover in its depths your path,
where you’ll attain your haven.

I think I see a mast, a ship,
you standing on the deck—
or maybe it’s a locomotive
half-hid in exhaust from its smokestack
and the steam released by the pistons
turning the wheels that bear you away—
or else it’s a field where I see you,
a field when evening dims the world

like a sorrow, as dew descends,
and the ravens rise, fly off to roost—
I bless you in all four directions,
wherever you go.

Translated by Seraphina Powell