Yuri Levitansky
In The Armoury Chamber

No white birches or wild ashes —
Used to warm the smoky huts.
Here are jewels- lustrous, precious
Pearls and rubies in fine cuts.

Viewing the Armory’s possessions
All of a sudden, from afar
My eyes caught my own reflection
In the mirror of the czar.

I stood there in awed silence,
Thinking of the ages passed —
Mirrored clearly, unbiased
In czar Peter’s looking glass —

It had seen the swords and spears,
Silver, lavishly ornate,
Now it sees my mundane gear
And my contemplative state...

Walking back that quiet evening
Stone steps echoing below,
I looked up: the sky was gleaming
Just like centuries ago.

And my mind was calm and clear
Under its eternal arch;
Focused not on Peter’s mirror —
But on history at large.

On its rough uneven routes,
On its trials that will judge
With no pity and no doubt
Who to scaffold or to scourge.

Our memory should serve us —
Eras, epochs may elapse —
Nothing will escape the surface
Of the guileless looking glass!

Translated by Olga Dumer