Sergey Esenin
Life is a lie with enchanting anguish...

Life is a lie with enchanting anguish,
And that’s what makes it so powerful:
With its crude hand it writes
Lethal letters.

Every time I close my eyes, I say,
“Let the heart be disturbed.
Life might be a lie, but even life, sometimes,
Garnishes its deception with pleasures.

Turn your face to the gray-haired sky,
Try to read your fate in the moon;
Calm yourself, mortal, and don’t demand
The truth you can’t use.”

How good it feels, in the blizzard of cherry blossoms,
To think that life is a road.
Let frivolous darlings lie.
Let frivolous friends betray.

Whether a tender word caresses me
Or a tongue cuts sharper than a razorblade,
I’m ready for anything,
Ruthlessly used to it all.

I feel a chill from these heights.
The fire of stars carries no heat.
Those I loved have denied me.
Those I lived for have forgotten me.

Even so, repressed and persecuted,
I greet the dawn with a smile
On this earth, so close and so beloved,
And thank life for everything.

Translated by Anton Yakovlev