The mud sticks to her feet
as she walks through the dark forest
white and downy her skin
like the cap of a toadstool
absorbs the moonlight
and rings it back out
on the trees and the pathway –
foamy soap bubbles
spread over the grass
climb up the tree trunks
kiss the stamens of flowers
prepare the mountain for bathing –
perplexed, I observe her rite
my breath caught in my throat
I want to turn my gaze away,
but some kind of magic has frozen me –
now her eyes peek out
from beneath her face’s shadows
the same eyes that once hung over
Eros, now directed at me – they ask
– I don’t know why I’m here Psyche
just as you landed on this canvas by chance
I happened upon your image here
Psyche, what have you got clenched in your fist?
are you holding Persephone’s box?
don’t open it, you’ll put us to sleep
I can’t bear to close my eyes
because they glimpsed you once
because they sensed your gaze
on my naked petrified body
– is that how you found me? –
fallen by chance inside your frame
I am here for you to look at
so you’ll lead me to the lake
to bathe together in the cold water –
our hair will float like seaweed beside us
the weeds will caress our ankles and you’ll forget
about Eros and Aphrodite and everything else in the world
– let’s just be bodies, laid out on the still water,
white mushrooms, sprouting to soak up the moonlight

Translated by Tom Phillips