The Button Poem by Knuts Skujenieks

A cherry-tree trying to cover
Its very last berry -
That is me watching over
My ragged shirt's single button.

When hopes and souvenirs are all gone,
When the burden's too heavy to bear,
I make sure the button's still on,
The one that you stitched there.

In spite of years and fears,
In spite of snows and rows,
To this hole-riddled life I am wed
By the stitch of your love's endless thread.

Day has succumbed to night. I gaze
At a single lit window.
A window it's not: there on my chest, ablaze,
A life sewn in by you.

Translated by: Ieva Lešinska. Knuts Skujenieks. Poga. Rīga: Neputns