Also in Poetry:

1. su-35
Polina Cosgrave. Cargo

 
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.

 

About the Author:

1. IMG_20200929_173816(1)
Polina Cosgrave
Arklow, Ireland

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).

Polina Cosgrave Полина Косгрейв
Bookshelf
cockroach cover
by Nina Kossman

A collection of nonsense poetry for readers who love Edward Lear, Hilaire Belloc, and all things delightfully peculiar.

Naza s book
by Naza Semoniff

A haunting dystopia some readers have called “the new 1984.” In a society where memory is rewritten and resistance is pre-approved, freedom isn’t restricted; it’s redefined. As systems evolve beyond human control and choice becomes a simulation, true defiance means refusing the script, even when the system already knows you will.

Version 1.0.0
by Nina Kossman

 

A new book of poems by Nina Kossman. “When the mythological and personal meet, something transforms for this reader…” -Ilya Kaminsky

Olga Stein cover
by Olga Stein

A collection of poems by Olga Stein.

Videos
Play Video
EastWest Literary Forum Bilingual Poetry & Prose Reading. July 13, 2025.
Length: 2 hrs. 08 min