À deux pas [English translation]

There you stand before me

And your hair cascades

Down your beautiful back

And the sun shines through your dress

And slips between your legs

To the top

And through the crack I see the stained glass 1

Of the immortal Chagall

Of the Metz Cathedral 2

There you stand, two steps away

You are there, so beautiful

There you stand, two steps away

Two steps - it’s a lifetime

Of lowering my head timidly

A life never daring to step over

To jump into the void

Staying in my room

Devouring the word love

You are there, two steps away

Right in front of me

You’re ready, in front of me

And my heart would like to take a bite

But my legs fail me

Two steps, I just have to reach out an arm

There you are, two steps away

So I lower my head

And go back there

Back to the noise of life

This evening in my empty room

Still inhaling the scent of your back

I’ll be burning with my stupidity

Once again it was two steps too far

1. Literally this is more like 'past your buttocks' but I couldn't resist adding 'crack' 2. Marc Chagall's stained glass added to Metz Cathedral between 1958-1960 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metz_Cathedral