Untitled
Listen - I didn’t sod off with the rest
When the enemy came calling. I
Stuck around. So now their sweet words
Of praise stick like fishbones in my gullet.
And I say:
Don't lay a finger on my music.
Still,
The ones forced to leave, to wander,
My heart contracts for them -
Without this country they are
Nothing
Sick,
Dimly lit prisoners
Crouching to gather foreign crumbs
Bitter solace.
You should
Know that back here we were burning
In the hottest part of the flame.
Our youth’s remains charring, vanishing
Because we faced it out.
Every last blow.
I never once
Raised an arm
To protect myself.
One day.
One day they’ll count it up,
Find every last hour
Worth it.
Still, for now, there is no one
Anywhere
Prouder
Simpler
With fewer tears
Than us.
When the enemy came calling. I
Stuck around. So now their sweet words
Of praise stick like fishbones in my gullet.
And I say:
Don't lay a finger on my music.
Still,
The ones forced to leave, to wander,
My heart contracts for them -
Without this country they are
Nothing
Sick,
Dimly lit prisoners
Crouching to gather foreign crumbs
Bitter solace.
You should
Know that back here we were burning
In the hottest part of the flame.
Our youth’s remains charring, vanishing
Because we faced it out.
Every last blow.
I never once
Raised an arm
To protect myself.
One day.
One day they’ll count it up,
Find every last hour
Worth it.
Still, for now, there is no one
Anywhere
Prouder
Simpler
With fewer tears
Than us.
poetrymagazines notes: Anna Akhmatova's Russian texts copyright © 2005 by Margarita Novgorodova. The rights are granted by FTM Agency, Ltd., Russia
Translated by Sasha Dugdale
Page(s) 21
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