Sophia Parnok
There’s no way for me to go back!..

There’s no way for me to go back!
I scream at full anguish.
I run around the squares
Of the chess board.

I step on every other one:
The others — are not mine.
Oh, my stingy joy,
You split me, too, in two.

So that I’m to measure by half.
That I’m to believe by half-faith.
That I’m to howl in half-voice.
That I’m to be not myself!

Translated by Rainie Oet