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We don't know how to say good-bye---
We keep wandering arm in arm.
Twilight has begun to fall,
You are pensive and I keep still.
Let's go into a church---we will watch
A funeral, christenings, a marriage service,
Without looking at each other, we will leave...
What's wrong with us?
Or let's sit on the trampled snow
Of the graveyard, sighing lightly,
And with your walking stick you'll outline palaces
Where we will be together always.
1917
I think if they ever made a film of Anna's life that Meryl Streep should play her.
Currently listening to: Duet
For us to lose freshness of words and simplicity of feeling,
Isn't it the same as for a painter to lose---sight,
Or an actor---his voice and movement,
Or a beautiful woman---beauty?
But don't try to save for yourself
This heaven-sent gift:
We are condemned---and we know this ourselves---
To squander it, not hoard it.
Walk alone and heal the blind,
In order to know in the heavy hour of doubt
The gloating mockery of disciples,
And the indifference of the crowd.
LOT'S WIFE
And the righteous man followed the envoy of God,
Huge and bright, over the black mountain.
But anguish spoke loudly to his wife:
It is not too late, you can still gaze
At the red towers of your native Sodom,
At the square where you sang, at the courtyard where you spun,
At the empty windows of the tall house
Where you bore children to your beloved husband.
She glanced, and, paralyzed by deadly pain,
Her eyes no longer saw anything;
And her body became transparent salt
And her quick feet were roooted to the spot.
Who will weep for this woman?
Isn't her death the least significant?
But my heart will never forget the one
Who gave her life for a single glance.
~Anna Akhmatova
***
to Vera Ivanova-Shvarsalon
The park was filled with light mist,
And the gaslight flared at the gate.
I remember only a certain gaze
From ingenuous, tranquil eyes.
Your sorrow, unperceived by all the rest,
Immediately drew me close,
And you understood that yearning
Was poisoning and stifling me.
I love this day and I'm celebrating,
I will come as soon as you invite me.
And sinful and idle, I know
That you alone will not indict me.
Currently listening to: Build a Bridge
