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.
«I dream of him less often with each night, / His visions do not haunt me anymore. / The fog descended on the road of white, / And shadows ran on water to the shore. And all day long, the loud chiming carried / Over the ploughed fields, extending wide, / And here, the bells from Jonah’s ...»
«We’ll be together, dear, together, / They all know, we’re kindred spirits, / And the cunning mockery, / Like a distant little bell, / Can’t offend us, / Can’t distress us. / Can’t recall where we were married, / But the church we chose was shining / With the frenzied radian...»
«We grew older by a whole century, and / It took no more than an hour: The fleeting / Summer was already nearing the end, / The ploughed up body of the plains was seething. Then, suddenly, the quiet road grew crazed, / Loud cries arose, and silver voices rattled… / I pleaded God, while c...»
«She wasn’t born just quite yet, / She’s both, the music and the word, / Which links the living of the world, / Unbreakable and permanent. The sea is breathing calmly, nestled, / But wildly shines the light of day. / The lilac of the foaming spray / Is in its turbid-azure vessel. O,...»