Georgy Ivanov
Here is reward for all my sins...

Here is reward for all my sins,
This triumph and disgrace:
A poem suddenly begins
From nothing, from no place.

The words come magically half-dressed,
Wearing haphazard clothes,
Like roses falling on my chest...
— And you, toss me a rose!

No, throw it past that cloud that towers.
A rhyme shines there and runs
To touch and transform mortal flowers
Into eternal ones.

Translated by Vladimir Markov