A White Coat Poem by viacheslav kupriyanov

Give the poet a white coat -
a camouflage coat:
as winter advances
he is a scout
sent out by the warmth of hope
to contact undercover
snowdrops.
Give the poet a white coat -
he is a medic, a surgeon,
the rarest of specialists
in healing the soul,
the only one
who can fix
fractured
human wings.
Don't go promising him
a strairjacket.
Give the poet
a white coat:
his work
requires cleanliness.

Translated from Russian by Francis R. Jones