A poem by Liana Margiva

He, the one who she longed for
Like a dying man’s eyes long for the last glimmer
of Earth’s light,

The one whom her soul has sucked in
Like thirsty soil, tortured by draught and
Scorched by the sun soaks up the moisture of
Long-awaited rain,

The one without whom she was gasping for air
Like a beached fish left by the tidal wave,
The one without whom her life grew dark,
Like thy sky dims without the Sun,

The one without whom she was slowly dying,
Like a bird which broke her wing in a fall,
He was leaving her,
Leaving forever!


By Liana Margiva.

Translated from Russian by Anatol Kardiukov.