Oh, Life, thou soon I will depart

To never see the Sun

To never soar in the sky -

With freedom I was one.

I praise the Lord for pair of wings

That He bestowed on me

They carried me across the skies

Above the land and sea

Above all creatures of the land

That crawl their way through mud and sand.

From high above I watched with awe

The splendor of the Earth

I flew above the wooded valleys

Where mighty trees lay waiting for the spring

Like mother bird awaits with zeal

The crackle of an egg, triumph of life.

As hatchling came I to this world

To spread my wings among the wooded hills

Where Love was in the air and the trees

Would gently wave to me, and every brush

Was dear to my heart and loved me back.

A blissful infant in a distant land,

I was, indeed, in paradise when I beheld

From mountain top the em’rald woods…

Who hasn’t seen those valleys of my youth

Can’t comprehend the beauty of the hills!

But I grew up and time had come

For me to leave my blessed home,

To see the land that’s far away,

Just a short visit, not long stay.

And so, I kissed my native land,

And spread my wings and off I went

The years went by, and my intent

To go back to native land

Forgotten was and ruled my fate -

In foreign land for death to wait!

I prayed to Lord not once, not twice

But many times and many nights

To keep me on this blessed land

Until I tasted life to full extent.

But who am I to ask and pray

To grant me an extended stay

When all the time the death comes home

To those who barely lived at all?

And if it’s true what people say

That on the Earth is short our stay,

Immortal soul of mine one day

Will come back to forever dwell

Among my native hills where I

Was once as happy as a child.

I love the ocean, but the trees

And grassy hills, and mountain breeze

Are closer to my soul than squalls

And shrieking songs of roaming gulls.

Oh, Earth, perhaps, you never knew

The longing of my soul for you

Which matches the eternal love

For you by heavens up above?

Yet I am not in any haste

My earthly flesh in you to waste,

The very flesh that once was home

To soul that was set free to roam.

So I respectfully refuse

To fester with the old refuse!

I’ll ride the waves and soar again

Before I meet my watery end.

And though I’m not afraid to die,

I sadden when the thought comes by

For I will never see again

The splendor of this God-made land:

The rivers’ waters mighty roll,

And lilies’ bloom and roses’ brawl

About who’s fragrance wind will take

The farthest distance from the lake.

I leave this Life in grief for… Life.

Sometimes we cry and our tears

Release the burden of our fears,

And, even if the heart is bleeding,

Make easier for us to flap our wings.

But there’s a diff’rent kind of crying

This one is more akin to dying.

It has no tears, it dwells inside the soul,

It kills the joy of life, it is the worst of all.

On sunny day it blankets skies with clouds,

It devastates us from inside and we

Are helpless to resist or simply lack desire

To put out this gut-consuming fire.

Behold, it comes at last, the final day

When life is slowly going away

The very life that had rebuffed the Sun

To expedite the end.

And bitterly we cry for ourselves,

Without the tears that dried out long ago,

Regretting that we failed to part

With pain and valued not the life.

And Death is knocking loudly on our door,

A nemesis without pity cares not

About us, who finally wisened up,

And closed our hearts to pain,

And learned to love the Life at last!

By Liana Margiva

Translated from Russian by Anatol Kardiukov