L.Kostenko, The Dawn Was Spelled... - Translation (Rus.) Poem by Lyudmila Purgina

Lina Kostenko

Under translation from ukranian into russian
By Nikolai Sysoilov


The dawn was spelled by crows - sun has failed
To rise up - only their cry 'Kar-Kar'.
And lies there broken with breast over way-station
In green grass made from a birch - Ikar.

The platform sails after the moon's light... Haze...
The barrier... Silence... The cross-over...
And trees, as if weighed with the caps,
Are grumbling under nests of crows.

To walk along the street as a shadow.
To find a coffee-bar. Throw coat. Where am I?
Who am I? There're, of course, the thousands
Of way-stations. Day, two - no one would find.

Only the noise of a far-surf there -
The trees, the streets, the bridges, people...
I'm carrying a valise, wholly tamped
With verses all about you and me...