Also in Poetry:

3.-птица-в-снегу
Ilya Bronshteyn. Winter Bird.
Winter bird, turn me into ice
Soaking the colors of the evening sky,
Into oblivion of a child’s trace,
Into а transparent spall without the notes.

Winter bird, turn me into snow,
Helplessly falling past the staircase,
Its steps are up there, unnoticed,
Passing through a cloud without me.

Winter bird, turn me into а garden
Of frozen trees, their roots running
Into the autumn water of the timid streams,
Standing still without any obstacle.

Winter bird, turn me into a fruit,
Shielded by its tiniest skin from death,
Spotted in childhood behind a tiny door
Through tiny drops of sweat.

Winter bird, turn me into running
Of cold minutes in a transparent light,
Reflected by a glass,
Searching for a summer
Of one boy from the past.

May 13, 2020
Translated into English by Svetlana Gluzman

Зимняя птица

Преврати меня, зимняя птица, в лёд,
Вбирающий краски вечернего неба,
В забытость во времени детского следа,
В прозрачный осколок с отсутствием нот.

Преврати меня, зимняя птица, в снег,
Идущий беспомощно лестницы мимо,
Ступеньки её наверху и незримо
Проходят сквозь облако, где меня нет.

Преврати меня, зимняя птица, в сад
Замерзших деревьев, корнями ушедших
В осеннюю воду ручьёв оробевших,
Застывших на месте без всяких преград.

Преврати меня, зимняя птица, в плод,
Закрытый тончайшей корою от смерти,
Увиденной в детстве за маленькой дверцей
Сквозь проступивший каплями пот.

Преврати меня, зимняя птица, в бег
Холодных минут по прозрачному свету,
Стеклом отражённому в поисках лета
Каким-то мальчишкой из пройденных лет.

13 мая 2020

About the Author:

Ilya Bronshtein author photo
Ilya Bronshteyn
New York, USA

Born in Moscow, Ilya Bronshteyn is a poet and photographer. He graduated from Moscow State University of Arts and Culture. He came to the US in 1991; he lives and works in New York City.

About the Translator:

Sveta Bronshteyn
Svetlana Gluzman
New York, USA

Svetlana Gluzman is a philologist and an educator. She graduated from the philological department of Moscow State University where she studied classics. She has lived in New York City since 1992.

Ilya Bronshtein Илья Бронштейн
Bookshelf
by Ilya Perelmuter (editor)

Launched in 2012, “Four Centuries” is an international electronic magazine of Russian poetry in translation.

by Marina Eskin (Eskina)

“The Lingering Twilight” (“Сумерки”) is Marina Eskin’s fifth book of poems. In Russian.

by Nina Kossman

A collection of moving, often funny vignettes about a childhood spent in the Soviet Union.

“Vivid picture of life behind the Iron Curtain.” —Booklist
“This unique book will serve to promote discussions of freedom.” —School Library Journal

by Ian Probstein

A new collection of poems by Ian Probstein. (In Russian)

by William Conelly

Young readers will love this delightful work of children’s verse by poet William Conelly, accompanied by Nadia Kossman’s imaginative, evocative illustrations.

by Maria Galina

A book of poems by Maria Galina, put together and completed exactly one day before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is Galina’s seventh book of poems. With translations by Anna Halberstadt and Ainsley Morse.

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