I thought of eagles for a long time
and understood such a whole lot:
the eagles soar above the clouds,
they fly and fly and touch no one.
They live on cliffs and on mountains
and are intimate with water sprites,
I thought a long time about eagles
but confused them, I think, with flies.
Я долго думал об орлах
и понял многое:
орлы летают в облаках,
летают никого не трогая.
Я понял, что живут орлы на скалах и в горах
и дружат с водяными духами.
Я долго думал об орлах,
но спутал, кажется, их с мухами.
«Let’s dream up a despot, / who will role alone in our hearts / from the most childish age / right down to noble gray hairs. / / Let’s have him grow a luxuriant moustache / and let’s put in rapacious eyes, / pull on jackboots that make no noise, / and let’s all vote yes. / ...»
«to A. Zhigulin / / If there is a raven up above / It means things are moving toward war. / / So there shouldn’t be a war / The raven has to be killed. / To kill the raven / A gun has to be loaded. / / But when we start loading it / Everyone will want to shoot. / And as s...»
«You’re sitting on your wooden planks in the middle of Moscow. / Your head’s spinning from blind anguish. / On the window is a muzzle, freedom’s the other side of the wall. / the thread between you and me is broken. / Behind the iron door struts a soldier... / Forgive him, mom, he’s...»
«When a speech begins, saying that spirituality has been lost, / that the way for people from now on lies through darkness, / in their astounded eyes and in their souls a holy readiness / to go forth and perish trembles like a new flame. / / And this is not delusion or error, / it is the...»