What are you grieving for, old woman,

Why chase the wind with dismal stare?

It howled just like today, inhuman

When all your love with man you shared.

And when you rushed to meet your lover,

The wind would beat him in this race

To be the first your lips to cover,

To swhirl around in sweet embrace.

But you have changed, no longer able

To stoke the passion, fire’s out.

The years of sorrow and betrayal

Uprooted lust and planted doubt.

What are you grieving for, old lady,

Who seek you on your dreary way?

The sight of lover, waving farewell,

Who went on endless road away?

He waved back at you as he vanished,

Receded into fading light.

You waited long, by years punished,

Your beauty scorched by age’s blight.

Don’t fret that lover never showed

Forsaken kisses’ honey taste,

When moonlight on your shoulders flowed

Just for the two of you in space.

Don’t look upon the empty road,

His tracks erased by blowing sand.

Accept the fate, pick up the load...

He won’t come back. That’s it. The end.

Life’s train arrived at final station,

The wheels stopped turning, end of track.

From this disastrous destination

There’s no ever coming back.

Likewise you can’t reverse the passage

Of love that fled the wicked heart,

Which pledged eternal passion’s message

And then it tore your soul apart.

Into Unknown, where there is no light

Your youth departed on a one-way flight.

Back in the days, awash in selfless love

You rushed to meet your lover in the grove.

The wind arose and shook the mighty trees,

The falling branches hurt your feet and knees

To warn you: stop, don’t chase this callous heart,

The one that never loved you from the start.

The wind knew well that once a heart is set

To chase another heart - there lies a threat

Of cruel rebuke that wounds the chasing heart

And mercilessly rips the soul apart.

The wind is timeless, knows no old age,

It can’t be held in any man-made cage.

Since he could tell a true love from conceit

He threw the twisted branches at your feet,

So you could find in life another way

And found a pure heart to make your day.

The wind was pleading with the weeping rain

To wash your mis’ry off and sooth the pain,

It chased away the clouds to let sunlight

To fill your heart with pure, sweet delight.

Behold, the wind is ripping off the leaves

From autumn trees, heartbroken and bereaved.

Reminding you of life that’s reached the end

To God’s embrace preparing to commend.

You’ll soon depart to bright light’s blinding glow,

Just like your lover many years ago.

By Liana Margiva

Translated from Russian by Anatol Kardiukov