Don’t kill
— No one’s killed they’re all living
Don’t kill
— At least now we are even-steven
Don’t kill
— Let them crouch in the basement some more
Don’t kill
– But killing was fine before
Don’t kill
– It was them they killed their own
Now they sit under rubble calling out to the West now they moan
Don’t kill
— They aren’t even a nation they need a firm hand
What we do to them we do as a friend
And we won’t rest
Till they see it’s best
For them to be saved from the wicked West
Don’t kill
— Then they will kill us
Glory to the special operation
Glory to the Spetsnaz
Glory to Russia’s military force
Thanks to Zem the planet is staying its course
Glory to Putin the savior and crusher
Glory to Russia
Don’t kill
— The world lies in evil lies
Put a white armband on it now it’s one of our guys
Then we’ll point our guns away
It can stay
Don’t kill
— For peace we’ll do what it takes
Don’t kill
— Precision strikes on the Nazis the commander makes no mistakes
Don’t kill
— You know this issue has two sides
Don’t kill
— Sending you a rug and the kid a coat in his size
— I’ll mail a larger one once I find it as well
In hell
Don’t kill
— We remind the traitorous weeping fifth column
— Of their granddads in the Gulag that’s where we can haul ‘em
Don’t kill
— The world doesn’t know what good newZ we bring in this upheaval
— We are the pure absolute unadulterated
Translated into English by Anna Krushelnitskaya
_________________________
Author’s notes:
* Letter Z in zigzag shape does not exist in the Cyrillic alphabet. It is now actively used by the Russian propaganda as a symbol of the “special operation” (this is a euphemism for “war” that the Russian government uses referring to the war against Ukraine). In my Russian original, I have replaced a Russian letter “з” with “z” two times on purpose, both times ingeniously translated: “thanks to Zem; good newZ”.
** Spetsnaz – special forces.
*** The last word in the last line is omitted on purpose.
* * *
Italian translation
NON UCCIDERE
Non uccidere
— Neanche così è uссisa la gente
Non uccidere
— Almeno ora non ci dobbiamo niente
Non uccidere
— Siedano pure in cantina
Non uccidere
— Ma si uccidevano prima
Non uccidere
— Si uccidevano tra loro
E tra le macerie implorano l’Occidente in coro
Non uccidere
— Ziamo una sola naZione ci sono scappati di mano
Noi agiamo come un fratello germano
Il nostro passo non si fermerà
Finché non diranno per noi meglio sarà
La salvezza dagli occidentali marciti
Non uccidere
— Altrimenti loro ci avrebbero uccisi
Gloria alla speciale operazione
Gloria alla speciale snazificazione
Gloria alla russa armata
Perché la Terra non si è ancora fermata
Gloria a Putin il messia
Gloria alla Russia e così sia
Non uccidere
— Il mondo intorno è lordo di menzogna
Fasciarlo con un nastro bianco bisogna
Allora non sarà nostro bersaglio
Sarà vivo e senza guinzaglio
Non uccidere
— Più di tutto la pace ci è cara
Non uccidere
— Solo ai nazisti il comandante spara
Non uccidere
— Sai è un affare complicato
Non uccidere
— Mando un tappeto e un vestitino da neonato
Un cappottino per l’inverno
Lo troverò poi all’inferno
Non uccidere
— E alla quinta colonna con gli occhi di pianto velati
Ricorderemo i loro nonni nel lager così disciplinati
Non uccidere
— Il mondo non sa quale grazia ha ricevuto
Non sa che noi Ziamo il bene assoluto
Translated into Italian by Paolo Statuti
* * *
The Original:
Не убий
— Они и так не убиты
Не убий
— Зато теперь мы квиты
Не убий
— Пускай посидят в подвале
Не убий
— Но раньше ведь убивали
Не убий
— Это они себя сами
И скулят под завалами зовут запад тихими голосами
Не убий
— Мы один народ они отбились от рук
Мы поступаем как поступает друг
Наша поступь тверда
Они ещё скажут да
Спасению от гнилого запада
Не убий
—Тогда убили бы нас
Славься спецоперация
Славься спецназ
Славьтесь российские войска
Zа то что планета жива пока
Славься Путин мессия
Славься Россия
Не убий
— Мир вокруг погряз во лжи
Белую повязку ему повяжи
Тогда не возьмём на прицел
Будет цел
Не убий
— Это борьба за мир
Не убий
— Точечно нацистов не ошибается командир
Не убий
— Знаешь не всё так просто
Не убий
— Шлю ковёр и костюмчик по росту
На вырост позже найду
В аду
Не убий
— А пятой колонне с глазами полными влаги
Мы напомним как их дедов исправляли в гулаге
Не убий
— Мир просто не понял как ему повеZло
Мы абсолютное чистое беспримесное
Julia Pikalova is a Russian poet. Born in Moscow, she is a graduate of St. Petersburg State University (Masters degree of Philology) and of California State University (Masters in Business Administration). Pikalova started writing about 8 years ago. Julia’s poetry has been published in many Russian literary magazines in Canada, the US, Europe, and Russia. In December 2020, Julia’s book The First, containing 500 poems, premiered in Moscow. In December 2021, it was followed by a bilingual book Camminare sull’aqua, published in Italy; the translations were made by Paolo Statuti who has been translating Russian classics for more than 50 years.
This collection includes poems written in 2020-2023. (Russian edition)
“The Lingering Twilight” (“Сумерки”) 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.” —Booklist
“This unique book will serve to promote discussions of freedom.” —School 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)