Stepping stones are arranged across the flowing water
The shore already in frost and ice forming soon
I would not hesitate to step into the icy stream
If it weren't dark because of my blindness
Will you take me across?
The stepping stones are arranged
On different days I burn with different flames
Every day I burn
Even at night I burn
Long-necked birds glide past
Without rising on their wings
They glide past majestically
With thickening images they glide past
The flames of my will-o'-the-wisps
The sun's skittish gaze
Rays like an ice pick piercing the cover
Intact clear ice
Reflecting trees, clouds
The water beneath had stopped
Away from the flock, a sparrow
And a bleak at the boundary of air and water
For a fleeting moment look at each other
Until something
Unreflectable calls them back
Something more advanced than nothing
The cold tightened
Ice splintered across the distance
A thin crack split open
Soon, why do you linger still
The sea is open
The sail flutters
Soon ice will force the shores
Leave, take the boat, take it
Soon it will be a frosty night
Such a swift weapon
Such a slow murder
Finally in their eyes we were
Words broken into letters
Black dots against white snow
As the ships distanced themselves further and further
More than myself
In this strange land of white death
I think of those who sailed away
Promises spoken to the wind
White patches against the black sea
When the ships had been sent to sea
We no longer mattered
If someone happened to return once
It no longer matters
Here where we are
Night cannot be distinguished from day
A person is just a smell
Around, the white expanse
Ready to erase all traces
Each moment the ice strengthens
At its edge, the sea
Unshed blood
Original poems in Finnish by Ilpo Halo. Translated into English assisted by AI technology. Copyright remains with the author, Ilpo Halo.