Vera Pavlova
from Signs of Life
Juice
My parents were virgins.
At 22 – even then it was a bit much.
Yes, Papa had a reputation as a skirt chaser around the women’s
dormitory
but he ‹‹went›› to the women in order to eat a little,
because he lived on his stipend . . .
He starting going to Mama also in order to eat.
And when there started to be talk of a wedding at the Institute,
they slipped her a copy of
‹‹How a Girl Becomes a Woman››.
Mama threw it out unopened.
It was scary for them to make me.
It was strange for them to make me.
It was painful for them to make me.
It was funny for them to make me.
And I absorbed:
To live is scary.
To live is strange.
To live is painful.
To live is very funny.
At 22 – even then it was a bit much.
Yes, Papa had a reputation as a skirt chaser around the women’s
dormitory
but he ‹‹went›› to the women in order to eat a little,
because he lived on his stipend . . .
He starting going to Mama also in order to eat.
And when there started to be talk of a wedding at the Institute,
they slipped her a copy of
‹‹How a Girl Becomes a Woman››.
Mama threw it out unopened.
It was scary for them to make me.
It was strange for them to make me.
It was painful for them to make me.
It was funny for them to make me.
And I absorbed:
To live is scary.
To live is strange.
To live is painful.
To live is very funny.
Translated by Jason Schneiderman
Page(s) 150-151
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