The geese are leaving, southbound, 

The heart is aching, full of grief, 

Perhaps, at their destination 

They’ll see the one it’s aching for. 

A part of heart will stay forever 

In those warm and distant regions, 

The one part that forestalled its warming 

In those lands by sun endowed, 

The envy of the northern realm. 

Ahead of time the leaves have sprouted,  

Brighter than before, 

With lilacs’ scent, with tenderness of rose 

Another heart slipped in without a warning. 

It was forgotten, but heart still sadly gazes 

At skies above that carry geese formations 

Proceeding south, certain in belief 

That southern sun will warm them up with love, 

Unknowing that the sun can’t warm the heart 

Another heart had ruthlessly rejected. 

The geese are flying off to distant lands, 

By winter chill intimidated, unaware 

Of heart’s heartache by other heart forgotten, 

Which has been frozen since that fateful spring. 

By other hearts for many years worshipped, 

It was rejected by the only one  

That found the way into its very core. 

That spring day when the wind was chasing rose petals  

And filled the heart with blissfulness of magic  

Turned out to become the day of grief, 

The onset of the suffering to come. 

The wind subsided, hiding from the question: 

Why rose’s fragrance brings the pain of loss? 

Why rip off petals of the rose in bloom like 

Ripping heart from lover’s open chest? 

In vain the sun was knocking on heart’s door, 

It couldn’t find the bliss in solitude. 

In those lands where sun is shining brighter, 

The birds wake up before the dawn starts breaking 

To see the tears of those who are abandoned, 

Who’s love was deemed to other heart’s rejection. 

From those tears comes the inspiration 

Picked up by birds to make up their songs 

And spread around the world with own refrain. 

Oh, how much pain pours from the eyes of those 

Who spend the sleepless nights in their backyards  

And gaze at stars. 

That’s why a human heart does skip a beat  

When birds begin to sing the song of love, 

The very love that lights one heart on fire 

And make the other one to flee in panic. 

From distant lands where sun abounds, 

Where geese are flying to partake of warmth, 

She ran away long time ago, having left 

Her heart behind to stay unloved forever. 

The wind continues harvesting the petals 

Of roses blooming in the summer gardens. 

It brings those petals to rejected hearts 

To breathe a little love in their lifeless shells  

And swiftly runs away, avoiding capture  

And answers to inevitable queries: 

Where does it take the love for many years awaited?  

What makes the love to fly away with wind,  

Abandoning the heart to mourn its loss for years? 

The geese are flying off to southern lands, 

Their happy quacking makes the world aware 

That southern sun will warm them up with love, 

Oblivious to melancholy that reins in lonely hearts  

Of those left behind, who’s love was taken  

Away by ruthless wind.  

By Liana Margiva 

Translated from Russian by Anatol Kardiukov