I asked the Moon if it is really true
That once my heart died I will ascend to skies
And from celestial heights I will observe the Earth?
And is it true that poor soul of mine
That suffering bondage carried from the cradle
Will find eternal peace in stellar kingdom?

Halt there, Moon, don’t rush to leave the skies
Entire night is still ahead of us.
Perhaps you wish to spend another night with me?
Don’t leave as yet, don’t plunge my soul in dark abyss.
This night, as many nights before have no one to talk to.

Or, perhaps, the loneliness you never knew
When on the sleeping sky the stars were burning
With fierce fire of their love for you?
Oh, Moon, d’you wish to know what happened to my heart
When farewell it bid to love forever,
When dreams were laid to rest with love
And it was destined to remain alone evermore?

There was the time when, waiting for the bliss,
My heart was blooming with the flowers’ blossoms
And held no grudge to them when the one I loved
Gave none to me.

Perhaps, you’ve never met the Sun
Which scorches wild grass of the Earth,
And dries up rivers running with untroubled waters,
The same almighty Sun that’s powerless to warm
The anguished heart and dry the tears
Cried for love that’s gone?

The longer you loom above the Earth, oh, Moon,
The deeper is your love for it,
But time will come and you will fade away,
The Chronos will erase all memories of you
As if you never rose and basked the Earth in glow;
As if I never loved and never cried,
As if I never waited for you on those sleepless nights.

Oh, no, Moon, I fear not the Death
Which will unlock the loneliness’ embrace
And set my soul to roam the Heavens
Enjoying Freedom’s sweetness.

But clouds the bliss the thought that I will never see
The splendor of the Dawn when I was waiting
My life entire for the wanderer lost.
So, on this night of our silent banter, here I am
Beneath the withered tree which, like myself,
Completed its life’s travel;
Amongst the carcasses of dreams that used to lift
On their wings to heights that you are ruling;
Amongst the ruins of heart that was to pieces torn
And that’s still bleeding through the cracks in time.

But who am I to blame the fate?
I was reborn and raised from naught to Heavens
Through lines of verse, and if they bound to live
Or perish with my mortal body,
The Moon alone will know.

But still I hope to look into the eyes
Where glimpse of my sad soul I won’t perceive!
For once at least in stranger’s eyes to see his love…
…Behold, a flock of wild geese scratched the sky,
They glorified the dawning of new day.
The Moon was hidden by the cloud covers
And night was gone, away to distant land
Where I was loving, dreaming of the one
Who never came along…
 

By   Liana   Margiva

Translated   from   Russian  by  Anatol  Kardiukov