«Literal Translation The Watermelon The gale is straining its guts; our old tub / Heads out into the risky business of the Sea of Azov. / Watermelons piled on top of each other, and the hold is overloaded, / And the wharf is covered with melons. In the pre-dawn chill we don’t get our first...»
«Everything’s plundered, betrayed, in ruin’s jaws, / The black wing of death flicks and gleams; / A hungry sick anguish at bowels and guts gnaws, / And yet here we are dreaming our dreams? By daylight the woods near the outskirts of town / Breathe out an astringent and cherry-laced smell...»
«We don’t know how to say good-bye. / Together we roam in disquietude. / Twilight grows deeper, we can’t see the sky, / I hold my piece, while you ruminate, brood. We go in a church, there’s a funeral, another, / People are married, a baby is christened. / We walk back outside, we ...»
«So you took me for some sort of wifey lightweight; / You’d wend on your own way while I’d weep and I’d plead, / Then hurl myself, hectic-frenetic, prostrate, / Under the hoofs of your dashing bay steed. Or I’d go to a psychic and ask her advice, / How to conjure a new lover boy for ...»