Holdor Volcano
The Night Snowfall
Translated from the Russian by Alec Vagapov
The frost has the humid law,
Night, melting snow, muddy grease.
Looking out through the blind window
I have learnt to cry with no tears.
Like a wolf, the blizzard is howling,
In the fog the houses slide.
Silence prevails overhanging
The winter growing gray outside.
The swarm of the white crazy bees
Swirl and whirl in the window frames.
The diamond flakes sob and breeze
In the holes of the airspace.
The road is a snake, huge and scrolling,
And night is about to fall.
The shadow bewails in deep mourning
Like a Jew at the Western Wall.
Outside the trees dance, so lively,
Playing pranks with the piercing winds.
The boulevards are snow-white and lovely
Resembling the cotton fields.
For Canada I"ll soon leave my homeland,
Lock the gate and depart. I don"t care.
I can"t utter a word at the moment,
With a lump in my throat, as it were.
10.02. 07
1-55 p.m.
35 Leningradskaya Street,
Bishkek