The Earth Poem by Irina Doichinova

I remember you now -
Your eyes known so much
Of the cruelty of life.
Up the hill in summer
You would take us -
Careless, obstinate children -
And revealed to us the secrets of the herbs.
The earth under the bright sky
Was bearing our intrusion
Silently.
White hair, hands so crude,
Not known love yourself,
A home for us you were.
The hill, the river, the herbs -
To them I return for shelter
And to that suffering
Engraved upon your face.
Like the austere mountain
Ascending above the city
You protected us coldly from the winds
Howling in the night.
The ground so sadly green
The advent of spring announces.
Faint sun in the cloudy sky
Like your smile saving us from despair.
Yet there's a memory
bright and vibrating -
a summer field upon a hill,
laughter and childish wickedness,
violet wonders,
miniature and odorous
filling our small hands.
You taught us to gather them.
The earth has taken you now.
Rest there and forgive us
We left you return alone
To where those herbs still grow.