Sasha Chorny
Lullaby

Hush, my little sleepy-head.
Mama’s gone — to Paris fled.
Ah-Ah-Ah, please don’t you weep.
There were reasons, go to sleep.
Over there beneath the couch
Crawls a sleek and shiny roach.
Where’s his wife? In Paris, too?
No, she isn’t; that’s not true.
Life here’s dull, with you and me.
So says Mama, I agree.
Mama’s new one’s rich and sleek.
He won’t bore her in a week.
Ah-Ah-Ah! The candles glow;
Window panes pile up with snow.
Sleep my funny little man!
All the world’s not worth a damn...
Once there lived a deer and doe...
Do not chew upon your toe.
Sleep my bunny, rest your head!
Mama’s gone — to Paris fled.
Are you mine or are you his?
Doesn’t matter which it is!
Do not look at me like that...
Once there lived a kitty cat...
But a tom bore her away.
Sleep, my son, it’s almost day.
She’ll come back before too long
To birth us another son...

Translated by Lydia Razran Stone