For S. Markish
Genevaโs pompous, no, Genevaโs gentle.
The Swiss are stuffy, swaggering and fun.
In Switzerland, that every nationโs neighbor,
a courteous place, a country stuffed with funds,
stuffed with its gold, its cows, its meadows, mountains,
with mounds of cheese moist under carving knife,
with schools of secret service agents, scores of scoundrels,
โIโlll buy myself a watch,โ decided I.
โ
The city buzzed. Some spies had tried to make
a daring move and leave the GRU.
But did I give a hoot? To tell the truth,
I was concerned with how to spot a fake,
which watches ran on rubies, and which ones
were waterproof and came on leather bands.
โ
A local Jโeโw, his bristly mustache arched,
commented in a melancholy tone:
โThe only thing that matters in a watch,
good sir, is that it ticks and tells the timeโ.
โIt matters that it ticks and tells the timeโฆ”
โ
“Do you refer to poems?โ โGod forbid,
I meant to speak of watches, wrist and pocketโฆโ
โIt holds for works by novelists and poets,
for lyric verse and other trifling bitsโ.
ะฃ ะถะตะฝะตะฒัะบะพะณะพ ัะฐัะพะฒัะธะบะฐ
ะ ะะตะฝะตะฒะต ะฒะฐะถะฝะพะน, ะฝะตั, ะฒ ะะตะฝะตะฒะต ะฝะตะถะฝะพะน,
ะฒ ะจะฒะตะนัะฐัะธะธ ะฒะฐะปััะถะฝะพะน ะธ ัะผะตัะฝะพะน,
ะฒ ะจะฒะตะนัะฐัะธะธ, ัะพ ะฒัะตะน ะะฒัะพะฟะพะน ัะผะตะถะฝะพะน,
ะฒ ะะตะฝะตะฒะต ะฒะตะถะปะธะฒะพะน, ะฒ ะจะฒะตะนัะฐัะธะธ ั ะผะพัะฝะพะน,
ะฝะฐะฑะธัะพะน ะทะพะปะพัะพะผ, ะบะพัะพะฒะฐะผะธ, ะณะพัะฐะผะธ,
ะฟะปะฐััะฐะผะธ ัััะฐ ั ะบะฐะฟะปัะผะธ ัะพัั,
ะฐะณะตะฝัะฐะผะธ ัะฐะทะฒะตะดะพะบ, ััะปะตัะฐะผะธ,
ั ะฒะดััะณ ัะตัะธะป โ ยซะัะฟะปั ัะตะฑะต ัะฐััยป.
ะขะพะปะฟะฐ ะฑััะปะธะปะฐ. ะจะปะฐ ะฟะตัะตะฒะตัะฑะพะฒะบะฐ
ัะพัััะดะฝะธะบะพะฒ ะะฆะะ ะะฃ
ะะพ ะฒัะต ัะฐะทะฒะตะดะบะธ ั ะฒะธะดะฐะป ะฒ ะณัะพะฑั.
ะะฝะต ะฑั ัะทะฝะฐัั, ะบะฐะบะฐั ะทะดะตัั ััะฐะผะฟะพะฒะบะฐ,
ะบะฐะบะธะต ะฝะฐ ััะฑะธะฝะพะฒัั ะบะฐะผะฝัั ,
ะฒะพะดะพัะฟะพัะฝัะต ะธ ะฒ ะบะพะถะฐะฝัั ัะตะผะฝัั .
ะะดััะณ ัะปััั ะธะท-ะฟะพะด ัะตัะพัะบะธ ััะพะฒ
ะฟะตัะฐะปัะฝัะน ะณะพะปะพั ะผะตััะฝะพะณะพ ะตโะฒัโโโะตโัโ:
ยซะั , ััะดะฐัั, ะฒัะต, ััะพ ะฝัะถะฝะพ ะพั ัะฐัะพะฒ,
ะงัะพะฑ ัะธะบะฐะปะธ ะธ ะณะพะฒะพัะธะปะธ ะฒัะตะผัยป.
ยซะงัะพะฑ ัะธะบะฐะปะธ ะธ ะณะพะฒะพัะธะปะธ ะฒัะตะผัโฆ
ะะพัะปััะฐะนัะต, ะฒั ััะพ ะพ ััะธั ะฐั ?ยป
ยซะะตั, ะพ ัะฐัะฐั , ะฝะฐัััะฝัั ะธ ะบะฐัะผะฐะฝะฝัั โฆยป
ยซะะตั, ััะพ ะพ ััะธั ะฐั ะธ ะพ ัะพะผะฐะฝะฐั ,
ะ ะปะธัะธะบะต ะธ ะฟัะพัะธั
ะฟััััะบะฐั
ยป.
Lev Loseff (birth name Lev Lifshitz; June 15, 1937 โ May 6, 2009) was a Russian poet, literary critic, essayist and educator. The son of poet Vladimir Lifshitz, Loseff was born in Leningrad. He attended Leningrad’s famous Saint Peter’s School and graduated from the journalism department of the Leningrad State University. Loseff immigrated to the U.S. in 1976. He earned a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan and became a professor of Russian literature at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, a position he held until his death thirty years later. In his later years Loseff was a Russian-language radio personality and a prolific author, writing both poetry and non-fiction works on Russian literature. Loseff died on May 6, 2009, in Hanover, NH.
(From Wikipedia)
Andrei Burago was born and raised in St. Petersburg, where he graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics of the St. Peterburg State University. Andrei moved to the USA in 1991. Currently, he lives in Seattle and works as a software developer.
This collection includes poems written in 2020-2023.ย (Russian edition)
“The Lingering Twilight” (“ะกัะผะตัะบะธ”) is Marina Eskin’s fifth book of poems. (Russian edition)
Launched in 2012, “Four Centuries” is an international electronic magazine of Russian poetry in translation.
A collection of moving, often funny vignettes about a childhood spent in the Soviet Union.
“Vivid picture of life behind the Iron Curtain.” โBooklist
“This unique book will serve to promote discussions of freedom.” โSchool Library Journal
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.
A new collection of poems by Ian Probstein. (In Russian)