Knock with your little fist, child…
(In memory of a Leningrad boy, my neighbour, Valya Smirnov)
Knock with your little fist, child,
I will open, as I always did.
I live beyond the mountain now,
beyond the desert, the wind and the heat,
but I will never forget you.
I didn’t hear you cry.
I didn’t hear you beg for food.
Bring me a sprig from the maple tree,
or just a simple handful of grass,
the way you did last spring.
Bring me, cupped in your small hands,
some clear, pure water from our Neva
and I will rinse the blood
from your golden hair.
1942
I will open, as I always did.
I live beyond the mountain now,
beyond the desert, the wind and the heat,
but I will never forget you.
I didn’t hear you cry.
I didn’t hear you beg for food.
Bring me a sprig from the maple tree,
or just a simple handful of grass,
the way you did last spring.
Bring me, cupped in your small hands,
some clear, pure water from our Neva
and I will rinse the blood
from your golden hair.
1942
poetrymagazines notes: Anna Akhmatova's Russian texts copyright © 2005 by Margarita Novgorodova. The rights are granted by FTM Agency, Ltd., Russia
Translated by Colette Bryce
Page(s) 18
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