Poets of Ukraine. Boris Khersonsky. Wisdom Floats in a Sea of Sorrow like an Ancient Fish. Translated by Nina Kossman

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Poets of Ukraine. Boris Khersonsky. Wisdom Floats in a Sea of Sorrow like an Ancient Fish. Translated by Nina Kossman

 
Where are you jews of the levant the wise men of megrib

where are you theologians of incomparable cappadocia

wisdom floats in a sea of sorrow like an ancient fish

four-legged fish of the past must have looked like this
 

there used to be scribes who counted letters in words

and commentators who interpreted numbers instead of meaning

because the meaning is buried in the ground

and nonsense hangs like a rainbow overhead

 
every hunter wants to know where the pheasants sit

every hunter goes ahead with a loaded shotgun

every punisher wants to know where the partisans hide

every fool thinks he was created in the image and the likeness

 
everyone believes the Eternal Master sculpted him

from the dust of the earth with his own hands

and the fish of wisdom in a sea of sorrow hesitates

floating away from us moving its four fins
 

* * *

 
где вы евреи леванта где мудрецы мегриба

где богословы несравненной каппадокии

мудрость плавает в море печали как древняя рыба

почти что четвероногая раньше были такие

 
раньше были писцы считавшие буквы в слове

и комментаторы толковали не смысл а числа

потому что смысл похоронен в земле в основе

а бессмыслица радугой над головой повисла
 

каждый охотник желает знать где сидят фазаны

каждый охотник идет напролом с ружьем заряженным дробью

каждый каратель желает знать где сидят партизаны

каждый глупец считает что создан по образу и подобью
 

каждый считает что его из праха земного

лепил Предвечный Мастер своими руками

и рыба мудрости в море печали помедлив немного

уплывает от нас шевеля четырьмя плавниками
 

About the Author:

Boris Khersonsky
Boris Khersonsky
Odessa, Ukraine

Boris Khersonsky was born in Chernivtsi in 1950. Khersonsky has published over nineteen collections of poetry and essays in Russian, and most recently, in Ukrainian. A book of his poems in English translations, The Country Where Everyone’s Name Is Fear: Selected Poems, was published by Lost Horse Press in 2022. He is widely regarded as one of Ukraine’s most prominent Russian-language poets.

About the Translator:

Nina-old-profile-from-Zoom
Nina Kossman
New York, USA

Nina Kossman’s eleven books include three books of poetry in English, two books of poetry in Russian, two collections of short stories, a memoir, a novel, an anthology she edited for Oxford University Press, and two volumes of translations of Marina Tsvetaeva’s poetry. Her English-language work has appeared in over ninety magazines and anthologies and has been translated into many languages, including French, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Persian, Chinese, and Japanese. Her plays have been produced in several countries. Her work in her first language, Russian, was published in Russian-language periodicals in and outside of Russia. She is a recipient of an NEA fellowship, UNESCO/PEN Short Story award, grants from the Onassis Foundation, the Foundation for Hellenic Culture, etc.

Boris Khersonsky Борис Херсонский
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