Bulat Okudzhava
Darkness is hovering everywhere...

Darkness is hovering everywhere,
Still as the depths of the sea...
Woman, Your Majesty, I won’t dare —
You, at your will, came to me??

Why, I have dim electricity,
Taps are all rusty and rough,
Woman, Your Majesty, can it be —
You were courageous enough?

Oh, you arrived as a swelling tide,
Leaving me gasping for air.
But would you care to please come inside,
It’s more convenient there?

Who are you, where have you been before?
Ah, I’m a fool, you can tell.
You simply needed a different door,
Street, town, and epoch as well.

Translated by Evgenia Sarkisyants