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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
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.
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.
These English poems by Gari have the same energy and elegance as his Russian poems, and they are enriched by his multilayered, polyphonic use of the English language to express thoughts and feelings with sophistication and humor.
This new edition by Shearsman Press (UK) contains translations of Marina Tsvetaeva’s narrative poems (поэмы). They can be seen as markers of various stages in her poetic development, ranging from the early, folk-accented On a Red Steed to the lyrical-confessional Poem of the Mountain and Poem of the End to the more metaphysical later poems, An Attempt at a Room, Poem of the Mountain, a beautiful requiem for Rainer Maria Rilke, New Year’s Greetings, and Poem of the Air, a stirring celebration of Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight and the quest for the soul’s freedom. These translations were first published by Ardis in 1998 and reprinted by Overlook in 2004 and 2009. The current edtion was published by Shearsman Press (UK) in 2021.
