Boris Ryzhy
To AP Sidorov, drugs rehabilitation specialist
Dark blue light in the hospital corridor,
moonlight beyond the hospital glass.
Think hard about the ordinary things,
think hard about the easiest stuff.
Three days now the gypsy’s stayed clean,
nothing can be done for the gypsy now.
Rusty water gushes from the tap,
you can’t sleep, all night you prowl
the hospital corridors in the dark blue light
glancing out through the windowpane.
How little time you’ve spent in the world,
surely it’s not all the same?
(I’m finishing reading a tragic book,
left by someone in a rush to leave.
And yes, I’m tapping my dentures
In time to music by Grieg.)
Yeah, couldn’t care less, though there are times . . .
I’m indifferent, but at times, now and then
I close my eyes for a moment,
and then I open them again,
and wrapping my arms around my legs
I think about death for real,
staring aimlessly at the hospital wall
with its painting of birch trees.
moonlight beyond the hospital glass.
Think hard about the ordinary things,
think hard about the easiest stuff.
Three days now the gypsy’s stayed clean,
nothing can be done for the gypsy now.
Rusty water gushes from the tap,
you can’t sleep, all night you prowl
the hospital corridors in the dark blue light
glancing out through the windowpane.
How little time you’ve spent in the world,
surely it’s not all the same?
(I’m finishing reading a tragic book,
left by someone in a rush to leave.
And yes, I’m tapping my dentures
In time to music by Grieg.)
Yeah, couldn’t care less, though there are times . . .
I’m indifferent, but at times, now and then
I close my eyes for a moment,
and then I open them again,
and wrapping my arms around my legs
I think about death for real,
staring aimlessly at the hospital wall
with its painting of birch trees.
Translated by Sasha Dugdale
Page(s) 41
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