8
Patiently, as tarmac under hammers,
patiently, as what is new matures,
patiently, as death must be awaited,
patiently, as vengeance may be nursed —
So I shall wait for you. (One look down to earth.
Cobblestones. Lips between teeth. And numb.)
Patiently, as sloth can be prolonged,
patiently, as someone threading beads.
Toboggans squeak outside; the door answers.
Now the wind’s roar is inside the forest.
What has arrived is writing, whose corrections
are lofty as a change of reign, or a prince’s entrance.
And let’s go home!
this is inhuman —
Yet it’s mine.
8
Терпеливо, как щебень бьют,
Терпеливо, как смерти ждут,
Терпеливо, как вести зреют,
Терпеливо, как месть лелеют —
Буду ждать тебя (пальцы в жгут —
Так Монархини ждёт наложник)
Терпеливо, как рифмы ждут,
Терпеливо, как руки гложут.
Буду ждать тебя (в землю — взгляд,
Зубы в губы. Столбняк. Булыжник).
Терпеливо, как негу длят,
Терпеливо, как бисер нижут.
Скрип полозьев, ответный скрип
Двери: рокот ветров таёжных.
Высочайший пришёл рескрипт:
— Смена царства и въезд вельможе.
И домой:
В неземной —
Да мой.
«One day a German sniper may hit me in my gullet, / Or, from some Nazi rookie I'd get a crazy bullet, Or else, a mine could shred my legs with shrapnel scatters / This war will do me in; but how? It doesn't matter. And then I will be lying there no name to me, nor glory / My frozen gaze still...»
«Recall the day when sleepy water / Seemed green and lazy at the shore? / All of a sudden, we both spotted / Two warships, gray — and then two more. And all at once, the world expanded / And opened like a story book, / The sailors passed us by; we envied / Their tan and their foreign l...»
«It happens so: there comes a sense of languor; / My ears ring with some disturbing chime; / The rumbling thunder turns into a clangor / Of distant voices, captured and confined. Surrounded by pleas and rueful crying / I feel this cryptic circle narrow down, / And then the crowd of murmurs...»
«All transient regimes that crumbled / All fleeting rules that were effaced / Have not disturbed Ravenna's slumber, / Lulled in eternity's embrace. The toiling slaves no longer carry / Mosaics through the Roman gates. / And glowing sunset colors tarry / On tall cathedrals' golden plates....»