The Moon and the Lake

– O mirror, beautiful Lake mirror,
would these years by billions
spent glittering in the obscurity
have utterly altered my beauty ?
My features seem so tired :
lengthened, crinkled, etiolated, ...

– O beautiful and radiant Selene,
you're such as you've always been,
as you've ever been contemplated.
Your face is spherical, cratered,
tinted with this lovely orange glare
that the setting Sun daily wears.

– Then, can you explain to me
why my reflection appears to be
so distorted, dear golden sea ?

– Beautiful and radiant Selene,
it would suffice you to stand
to the vertical of my position
for your face to appear round,
and that this slight breeze
which steadily browses the horizon
decreases so that your reflection
finally ceases to be fluted.

Please, beautiful and radiant Selene,
don't give in to doubt nor to anxiety.
The distorted image you discern
only results from optical fantasy.
It is highly remote from reality.

– Thank you, dear Lake mirror,
to have put an end to my unrest.
For you, beautiful hope provider,
I will go on to shine in the darkness.