Is it only safe
in a cloister of cloaking
clothes and within the walls
of kitchen and children's room?

Or will you risk
being a witch
according to frightened people
who will conspire against you?

A witch who fights off
and cannot be forced
by the pitifulness of a man
or the knife of robbers

The cuts hurt
the water is cold
and the night is dark
in the mud of the riverbank

I hoped for strong daughters
and sweet sons, sensible
and helpful, but
shall I ever have them?

Any way the wind blows
that's where people fall in love
until the poison stops working
your loved one pulls out
the arrow and makes you cry

No more sweet words
only the popular songs
about your own pitifulness
the widespread disbelief
in real real love

and the general envy
of cheap sensations, as if
people wish for nothing else
and have nothing more
to offer than that

Beware, wherever you are
there is always a fountain of love
nearby, where the world stands still
from timeless happiness
sealed with a coin