Boris Ryzhy
Morning, and my town . . .
Morning, and my town is asleep.
Full of happiness, pride,
a tramp stands on a rubbish heap –
can’t tear his eyes away, gazing
at some little object he’s found.
Looks at it this way and that –
so pitiful, old that it hurts.
What a nice little thing.
What an odd little thing.
A phial, or maybe a jar.
A pity to let the jar lie.
Why should it lie on the heap?
After all it’s a fragment of life –
Oh, a pity to let the phial lie,
perhaps it might be of some use.
What if in a second from now
our graves were to disappear,
the face of the Lord made smooth?
So you found it a home, did you then?
Oh, I found it a place, my boy . . .
Full of happiness, pride,
a tramp stands on a rubbish heap –
can’t tear his eyes away, gazing
at some little object he’s found.
Looks at it this way and that –
so pitiful, old that it hurts.
What a nice little thing.
What an odd little thing.
A phial, or maybe a jar.
A pity to let the jar lie.
Why should it lie on the heap?
After all it’s a fragment of life –
Oh, a pity to let the phial lie,
perhaps it might be of some use.
What if in a second from now
our graves were to disappear,
the face of the Lord made smooth?
So you found it a home, did you then?
Oh, I found it a place, my boy . . .
Translated by Sasha Dugdale
Page(s) 38
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