Lena Berson. “In the darkest times…” Translated by Anna Krushelnitskaya

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Illustration by L.M.
Lena Berson. "In the darkest times..." Translated by Anna Krushelnitskaya

 
In the darkest times, neverthecursed before,
All you can think is this: war, war.
All you can do… not a damn thing anymore.

In case of airstrikes – there’s more use in a sandbag,
Than in my body in which my tongue starts to sag,
Not a language left in which it could still wag.

Our mother tongue, still the same (not the same, no)
No more makes us kin than do spittle bubbles we blow,
Or the way our fingers grow and our bellies grow.

Same speech, stuck to us like a suckling tick –
I wish your mutterances were muffled and thick,
Unlike the knell in their ears: shoot, maim, murder, quick;

Be as hushed as the ash after a flash of flame,
Like rain in the window hole, through the gaping door frame,
On the grass in the yard which was burned down in your name.
 

* * *
 
В темнейшие, темнеменьшие времена,
Все то, что ты можешь думать: война, война.
Все то, что ты можешь делать… да ни хрена.

На случай обстрела – полезней мешок с песком,
Чем тело мое с коснеющим языком,
Который уже не мелет ни на каком.

Родимая речь, все та же (не та, не та),
Роднит нас не больше пены у края рта,
Наличия пальцев, наличия живота.

Привычная, присосавшаяся как клещ,
Ты лучше бы стала невнятная немтыречь,
Чем биться в ушах: стреляй, убивай, калечь.

Шуршала бы ты не громче золы в костре,
Дождя по оконной бреши, дверной дыре,
Травы на сожженном во имя твое дворе.
 

About the Author:

Y. Lena Berson photo
Lena Berson
Israel

Lena Berson, born in Omsk, graduated from Moscow State University with a major in journalism; worked as a co-editor of “Sharmanshchik”, a newspaper of the Theater of Music and Poetry of Elena Kamburova. Her poems have been published in many Russian literary journals, such as Arion, Jerusalem Journal, Etaji, Novyi Mir, etc. Since 1999, she has lived in Israel. She works as a news editor.

About the Translator:

Krushelnitskaya Pic_East West (1)
Anna Krushelnitskaya
Ann Arbor, MI. USA

Anna Krushelnitskaya (b.1975) lives in Ann Arbor, MI. Anna’s original texts and translations appear in Russian and in English in various print and online publications. She has authored two collections of poems in English. Anna’s most voluminous work is the 700-page bilingual interview collection Cold War Casual/ Простая холодная война (2019).

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