Blessed be nights; their solitude evokes
Quiet talks to you through wisps of smoke.
Many stars look down, big and small,
And a lonely mouse rustles by the wall.
In my chest, I touch a tender bone
Motherland, it's yours and yours alone.
In your air I'm still immersed,
I exhale it in my pining verse.
Scarlet palms on Easter holy night
Guarded many candles' sacred light.
And the arches of my bare soles
Are still longing for your poignant soil.
My whole body for your image aches
And my soul soars over Neva's waves.
I lie down and smother my cigar,
And your spring engulfs me from afar:
My home porch, that oak tree with its stake,
Sandy alleys leveled by the rake.
Ночь дана, чтоб думать и курить
и сквозь дым с тобою говорить.
Хорошо... Пошуркивает мышь,
много звезд в окне и много крыш.
Кость в груди нащупываю я:
родина, вот эта кость — твоя.
Воздух твой, вошедший в грудь мою,
я тебе стихами отдаю.
Синей ночью рдяная ладонь
охраняла вербный твой огонь.
И тоскуют впадины ступней
по земле пронзительной твоей.
Так все тело — только образ твой,
и душа, как небо над Невой.
Покурю и лягу, и засну,
и твою почувствую весну:
угол дома, памятный дубок,
граблями расчесанный песок.
«Winter had set in. / Wind blew in from the steppe / and the child was cold in a dark den / on the slope of a hill. He was kept warm by an ox’s breath. / Other beasts also / stood in the cave. / Above the manger floated a warm haze. After shaking bits of straw and millet / from thei...»
«Magdalene 3 I will not say a thing about your wayward / path, for now you are fine, my dear. / I was barefoot, but you shod me / with cascades of hair — / and tears. Nor will I ever ask you at what cost / you bought these fragrances and oils. / I was naked, but you engulfed / me l...»
«The magi had come. The infant soundly slept. / The star shone brightly from the vaulted sky. / A cold wind swept the snow up into drifts. / The sand rustled. A bonfire crackled nearby. / Smoke plumed skyward. Flames hooked and writhed. / The shadows cast by the fire grew now shorter, / n...»
«Pineapples, pineapples — dipped in champagne! / Surprisingly tasty, sparkling, and keen! / I’m in something Norwegian! Something from Spain! / Madly inspired! I take up my pen! The rattling of airplanes! The roaring of cars! / Wind-whistling trains! Wing-soaring yachts! / This one get...»