Konstantin Simonov
I remember two girls at the door in the night...

to Valentina Serova

I remember two girls at the door in the night,
(Your shows ended later the year before last)
Two fans at the door of the theatre with me,
Who hoped for two words from your lips as you passed.
Yes, I was to go with you. And yet to them
I think you were kinder that night than to me.
They expected two words from you. I needed less —
For one word alone would have satisfied me.

I remember two girls... and tonight, it seems strange -
The thought of those two snowy forms at the door.
The lights of the theatre have long since gone out —
You won't be performing there now in the war
And I'm far away. Yet perhaps those two girls
On some distant journey still follow your fame
And now with some other man there in the snow
Are waiting without me, exactly the same.

I remember two girls... and perhaps I shall live
To walk once again through the streets in the snow
And meeting the girls, shall discover you're back
To play in the town where I lived long ago.
I fear that I shan't have a reason to wait;
But the snow will continue to fall as before —
And the two little girls will wait on in the night
Eternal companions who stand by the door.

Translated by Mike Munford