On the darkest night
With the brightest moon
And the whitest ground,
Is a haven which no mortal man has seen;
Just me.

Where the bleached white trees
Show no life,
Not that I can see.

But the closer I look,
The more I can see
A snowy rabbit
A slender white deer
And flying high overhead,
A dove;
First mistaken for a star.

Even farther in the whitened bush,
I see a shadow moving
A delicate shadow
Belonging to a girl.

As she comes into sight,
Her head turns towards me
Her eyes like the darkest night,
Her face like the brightest moon
Her hair like the whitest ground.

A paler face you never would see,
The girl’s ethereal features
Transfixed me and only then,
Only then
Did I see
When she looked right at me
Only then did I understand
I had seen the essence of winter.