Dethroned, to my substance-bound trap
I nose-dived, a higher will's transgressor.
A beam of joy decays to pain no lesser
Refracted by the nature's carnal sap.
All winds a-nest a rose in my lap.
But every tone suffers its suppressor
In every beat — so should I still confess for
The temper colors wrap me step by step?
Crime makes me pure. Death inspires. Prison
Delivers me. Prostration gives me might.
I lost my wings — not depth to take my ease on.
Come on, tormentor! Bloody eagle, bite!
All voices in my syrinx meet arisen
Like rainbow ties the gamut crucified.
2
На дно миров пловцом спустился я —
Мятежный дух, ослушник высшей воли.
Луч радости на семицветность боли
Во мне разложен влагой бытия.
Во мне звучит всех духов лития,
Но семь цветов разъяты в каждой доле
Одной симфонии. Не оттого ли
Отливами горю я, как змея?
Я свят грехом. Я смертью жив. В темнице
Свободен я. Бессилием — могуч.
Лишённый крыл, в паренье равен птице.
Клюй, коршун, печень! Бей, кровавый ключ!
Весь хор светил — един в моей цевнице,
Как в радуге — един распятый луч.
«And then summer bid farewell / To the station. Taking off its cap, / Thunder took as a souvenir / A hundred blinding photos of night. A bunch of lilacs grew dim. At that / Moment the thunder, gathering an armful / Of lightning, attempted from the field / To illuminate town hall. And wh...»
«I was captivated straight away, / tired of the lies all around me, / by that proud, tragic tale / of a warrior’s death in the mountains. / / And it may have been Roland’s horn / that called me, like Charlemagne, / to a silent pass where the boldest / of many bold fighters lay sl...»
«Our court nightingale, / beak open wide, / can let out the loudest / trills in the world. The creature is stunning / by what pours from his throat – / but it was he who spurred / Derzhavin to write that praise and flattery / are by no means the same: / a slave can flatter / but...»
«Three Robinson Crusoes / in an abandoned shack, / we found a real find — / a single, battered book. We three were friends / and we quickly agreed / to share out this treasure / as Solomon decreed. The foreword for cigarette paper: / one friend was delighted / with a gift so unlik...»