In “Minna XII,” the speaker treats the woman he addresses as a cool, almost magical element—a well filled with ruby-like sound—where he can bathe and come out transformed, wearing “another skin.” His feeling is dreamy and detached, less about urgent desire than about awe and immersion in her calm. He drops his heart into the depths of her “disheveled serenity” and walks away empty, as if he needs her quietness to soften his emotions into pearl-like stillness. Once his heart has merged with that quietness, he returns and surrenders it again. The poem creates a trancelike, intimate mood: strange, fragile, and full of repeated emotional risk.
Minna XII — Summary
You are a well sprayed with cool rubies of sound In which I bathe and rise with another skin Like moon-stone passion slyly courting The light breath of a tired dream. I drop my heart into the depths Of your disheveled serenity, And stroll off empty. When my heart has merged to your shades of pearl quietness I return and once more drop within you.