Every night I hear planes
Flying over our house
I count them like sheep
One, bringing death to a village
Two, bringing death to a city
Three, bringing food for the soldiers
Who will finish the job
Four, bringing back the bodies
Every night I hear planes
Flying over our house
They hum like a swarm of bees
One, making a U-turn
Two, heading back at high speed
Three, what if this one is coming after us
Four, aren’t they all
Every night I hear planes
Flying over our house
I asked around, no one else is bothered
Every night I hear planes
Flying over our house
Not once they woke up my child
Smiling in her sleep
Every night I hear planes
Every day I hear planes
I shout over them
What I can’t whisper into your ear
ГРУЗ
Каждое утро летит самолётик:
Закрывай глазки, открывай ротик.
Каждую ночь летит самолёт
Горе в чужую деревню несёт.
Будем считать их, будто овечек.
Был человечек — нет человечка.
В гонке за смертью — только вперёд.
Раз самолёт, два самолёт.
Видишь, кружатся три и четыре?
Вспомни, что нам говорили о мире.
Пять самолёт, шесть самолёт.
Мёртвых обратно никто не везёт.
Зайке не слышно мотора, он спит.
Над ним самолётик, как пчёлка, жжужит.
Каждое утро и каждую ночь —
То сына, то дочь.
То сына, то дочь.
Both versions are the author’s. The English version was first published in Poetry for Peace, an online anti-war campaign launched by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality. The Russian version is published for the first time.
Polina Cosgrave is a bilingual poet based in Ireland. Her debut collection “My Name Is” was published by Dedalus Press in 2020. She is a recipient of the Arts Council’s Literature Bursary Award for 2021. Polina is featured in the Forward Prizes Book of Poetry 2022 (UK).
A new book of poems by Nina Kossman. “When the mythological and personal meet, something transforms for this reader…” -Ilya Kaminsky
From the myths of the ancient Near East to the secluded palaces of forgotten empires, Harems: Origins and Eunuchs uncovers how the idea of the harem first emerged — not only as a symbol of power and beauty, but also as a reflection of human desire, faith, and control. With the precision of a historian and the sensitivity of a storyteller, Sergii Mazurkevych traces the hidden world of eunuchs, devotion, and intrigue that shaped entire civilizations. A thoughtful and visually rich journey into one of history’s most secret institutions.
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.
