I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU BEFORE LEAVING

Shadows are floating around me, the well-known charwomen
in death's lounge,
and death is waiting in the corner,
cloaked in the turquoise attire of the moon.
I have read many a poem
and heard many stories of death,
and I thought I knew what it looks like,
black, dark and impatient,
but now I can safely say I was wrong,
for it is not black and all, and even less dark and impatient.
I have never seen such a beautiful cloak
like the one glittering on it now.
If I could speak, my darling,
I would scream out loud:
„Don't cry!... Death is not that horrible
if you wait for it like a friend,
and if you leave your soul behind...
yes, do not cry!... There are even sadder people,
who never loved in their lifetime,
like I love You!“
It is quiet, so painfully quiet that I can clearly hear
her pearly tear travel her face,
silvering all the darkness around it.
I am lying on my deathbed, waiting
for the heavenly bell to toll,
because I have long since quit waiting for the church bell.
Everything around me is imprisoned in darkness and silence,
only her tear glitters leaving behind a painful trace
of her oh so sensitive feelings.
Oh, Lord, if I could speak out once more before I go,
yes, Lord, I would tell her what I never did in my life:
„Don't cry!... My love is so loud
that you will be able to hear it from up high,
and when you hear the song of the freedom birds,
the crickets in blue nights,
and the crow on the old oak's forefinger,
bidding the souls of lovers farewell into eternity,
know it, yes, you have to know it...
that these wonderful heavenly creatures
are carrying my love into your embrace...
so do not worry, my dear, I am leaving,
but my life will eternally stay with you!...“