You were like the wind in my life:
sometimes bitter cold,
sometimes you embraced me.
When you blew hard
it ruined all the fragile things;
and when you blew gently
it was enough to move me.
On warm days you were a south wind
bringing hope and renewal;
but in the winter season
I could sense the end was near.
You were never anything I could grasp
even though I felt you:
When I reached out, there you were;
as I closed my arms, there was nothing.
You dried my tears and burned my lips.
You made the heat bearable
and the cold even worse.
You were like a dance --
a sweeping cloud of leaves --
but the steps were just beyond me.
Friend of hawks! stirrer of deep waves,
beginner of storms
and end to my peace and calm...
My wind-vane points the way
but I can't catch up.
You were always on the move:
heading towards me, running away.
I hear news of you. They tell stories.
But however far you go
to my thoughts you keep returning.
