With the soft zephyr of June
The willow tree sways
Its pussywillows falling
Flutter in the light wind.
White chunks are let loose
From their downy crests
And floating, the flakes
Dancing lightly in the Sky
Are as strange as dreams,
Or Summer-snow come to mock.
The pussywillows give the earth
A soft downy mantel
Around the willows in the corner of the yard.
14 July 1963.
Translated by Lenora Timm