A friend turned foe, the sweetness of fake passion

Dispersed and vanished like a weightless cloud.

And wounded heart, transfixed by such deception,

Cried out in pain and weeped out loud.

As if in days of yore it never suffered,

And never ached for anyone before,

He pledged his love with casual demeanor

And let the lonely heart to soak him up.

A friend turned foe, the mask slipped off the face,

By accident, with no intent, and there

Behind a handsome look and graceful poise,

Behold the trifle soul of hypocrite.

And bitter heart to Heavens turned for mercy.

What have I done to fall out of grace?

Do I deserve the misery and torment

You send my way consistently for years?

Do you believe I have no strength to beat?

But God was silent and the heart kept weeping

Without any tears, uninterrupted.

Why it absorbed the falsehood of the words,

The mawkish words he casually uttered?

Who made you think you’d feel the warmth of love

When you know better after years of trying?

Do you recall the anguish love did bring

While ripping you apart to little pieces?

Oh, yes, for starters, it had always been

A pleasant and caressing feeling

That brought you out from your loveless slumber,

Ignited fire, made you blaze with passion

Before into oblivion disappearing.

And every time the heart woke up in pieces,

Put them together, patching up the wounds,

Swore solemnly to never be again

Caught in the fatal web of sweet deception,

And ran away from love like from a leper.

Yet love would never leave the heart alone.

Time and again it would rekindle fire

And caught the poor heart in web of charming lies

To recommence the agonizing cycle.

Last love was short-lived,

The deception was by accident uncovered,

Gone was the falsehood of the empty words.

The lonely heart to solitude committed

To keep alive the lust for fake illusion

For once to be adored by the one

Who deep inside the scorching blaze restarted.

Is it too much to wish for someone’s love?

Just once until the day when God

In Heaven confesses that He loved you

All the while!

By Liana Margiva

Translated from Russian by Anatol Kardiukov