manatee comes to me manatee manatee
tells me man is alone at sea
lonely tree lonely tree lonely tree lonely tree
repeats manatee to me
from the birth to the burial peat
no friend around no foe no foe
neither loved one nor even a foe
you have only a snowstorm another storm
and a shank and a second shank
and an arm and another arm
and he will laugh right in my face
muahahahaha
bwahaha
you are the only one manatee says alone
you are alone you are all alone
even if you shout in your four voices man
even if you shout with your four mouths
a man will not change himself a damn thing
not a damn thing will change
float away manatee I tell him now
and I’m holding out a bag
let you float away deep into the darkness
and I’m holding out a jail
yes I’m alone I tell the manatee
damn I’m alone alone
so what I’m telling him so what
and I’m holding out a coat
put your coat on I say and just swim
far away where there is no one
and then the manatee puts on the coat
and as handsome as a brigantine
the manatee floats away in a coat
born of the deep sea
and now I’m left all alone
in the surrounding silence
I am alone I repeat alone
I’m alone
I’m alone i’m alone
I’m not
приплывает ко мне ламантин ламантин
человек говорит один
ты один ты один ты один ты один
ни любимого ни врага
от рождения до седин
и ни друга вокруг ни врага ни врага
ни любимого ни врага
у тебя лишь пурга да ещё пурга
да одна да вторая нога
да рука да ещё рука
и такой прям в лицо рассмеётся мне
бугагашеньки
бугага
ты один говорит ламантин ты один
ты один ты совсем один
хоть в четыре глотки кричи человек
хоть ори ты в четыре рта
не изменится ни шиша человек
не изменится ни черта
уплывай ламантин говорю я ему
да протягиваю суму
уплывай давай в глубину во тьму
да протягиваю тюрьму
да один говорю ему ламантин
да один чёрт возьми один
ну и что говорю ему ну и что
да протягиваю пальто
надевай пальто говорю да плыви
в те пределы где нет никто
и тогда надевает пальто ламантин
и красивый как бригантин
прям в пальто уплывает вдаль ламантин
порожденье морских глубин
и тогда остаюсь я совсем один
в обступающей тишине
я один повторяю один
я один
я один я один
я не
Oksana Goroshkina was born in Krasnoyarsk. She is a winner of several poetry awards and a member of the Union of Russian Writers. Her poems appeared in Russian literary magazines Day and Night, Yenisei, Siberian Lights, Culture of the Altai Territory, Parovoz, and other publications. She is the author of two books in Russian, “Nobody Died” and “At the Edge of Summer”.
Leonid Yakovlev, aka Kfir Grishmanovsky, was born in Leningrad in 1962. He graduated from Leningrad University with a major in chemistry. He worked as a biophyschemist and information technology specialist. After leaving Russia in 1995, he lived in the US, Finland, and Israel. From 2005 to 2020, he was employed as a lead developer at Nokia. His poems were published in Russian-language magazines and various poetry books, including Nevsky Almanach, Emigrantskaya Lyra, Znamya, etc.. His book “Echo” was published in 2018. He lives in Finland. https://grishmanovsky.com/
This excellent anthology, compiled and edited by Julia Nemirovskaya, showcases poems by Russian (and Russian-speaking) poets who express their absolute rejection of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The documentary novel “The Tenth Circle” tells the story of the life, struggle, and destruction of the Minsk ghetto, one of the largest in the Soviet Union and Europe during World War II. (Russian edition)
“Monkey’s Defense” is a collection of short stories and parables by Nina Kossman, bilingual author of several books of poetry and prose and translator of Marina Tsvetaeva’s poems into English.
