Garden of Figures

IN THE MIDDLE OF FIGURES
(On the chert of Koryakiya)

Amongst sharp gloomy grey cliffs,
Moving uphill in a funeral procession
Behind a stone coffin,
To put it into the grave.
And shed a hard and heavy tear.
Or pour out the loss in rocky avalanche.

IN THE GARDEN OF FIGURES
(On the Krymskiy Val)

Grannies are snoozing on the benches.
Women, chatting lazily,
Rocking baby prams with one hand.
Elder kids are making mud pies.
Overall - there is almost nobody around.
At the table behind the wild grape vine
Somebody’s drinking beer, most likely.
And I could have a bottle too.

ON THE BEACH
(On any. Beach equalizes)

The bodies on the beach are like dead jellyfishes,
Like walruses, like stones
Caressed by warm waves.
A sea-gull perched on someone’s bottom.
A shrimp’s digging up in someone’s mouth.
I'm fingering a pile of luminaria sea weed.
It’s foliage and small sea cockle-shells.
The body turns golden in the sun
Salt lines are showing on the swimming suit.
Among the bodies on the beach
The pebble came alive and plays ball game.

Dvizhenie Kamni
Interpreter: Tatiana Matveeva