Magdalene
3
I will not say a thing about your wayward
path, for now you are fine, my dear.
I was barefoot, but you shod me
with cascades of hair —
and tears.
Nor will I ever ask you at what cost
you bought these fragrances and oils.
I was naked, but you engulfed
me like a wave — you formed
my roof and walls.
I will caress your naked body now —
softer than water and lower than grass.
I was upright, but you forced me down
and warped me with your tenderness.
Set aside this flax and make my swaddling
by tearing out a patch of hair.
Anointer! What use to me is ointment?
Your very body washed me
like a wave.
Магдалина
3
О путях твоих пытать не буду,
Милая! — ведь всё сбылось.
Я был бос, а ты меня обула
Ливнями волос —
И — слёз.
Не спрошу тебя, какой ценою
Эти куплены масла́.
Я был наг, а ты меня волною
Тела — как стеною
Обнесла.
Наготу твою перстами трону
Тише вод и ниже трав.
Я был прям, а ты меня наклону
Нежности наставила, припав.
В волосах своих мне яму вырой,
Спеленай меня без льна.
— Мироносица! К чему мне миро?
Ты меня омыла
Как волна.
«Cast-iron railings, / a bed of pine. / And jealousy? / So sweet it’s gone. With sobs and prayers / my bed was made. / Walk at will now, / God at your side! Your ears not stung / by ranting words. / No candle-burning / until the dawn. We won our peace: / clear days and dear. ...»
«A cast-iron fence, / A bed of pine, / How sweet that I no longer / Need to be jealous. A bed’s made for me / With sobbing and prayer; / Now go wherever on earth / You wish, God bless you! Now your ears won’t burn / With frenzied speech, / Now a candle won’t flicker / Till t...»
«I bow to them as if over a cup, / Those innumerable precious lines — / This is the black, tender news / Of our youth stained with blood. The air is the air I breathed / That night above the abyss, / That night of iron emptiness, / When all calls and cries were vain. How rich the scen...»
«Like a bird, the echo answers me. / B.P. 1 A unique voice fell silent yesterday; / our woodland companion has gone his way, / changed into life-giving ears of grain / or – as he liked to sing – into the finest rain. / And all the flowers in all the world / burst into bloom to greet...»