Blackbirdan online journal of literature and the artsSpring 2016 v15n1
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back MIKHAIL AIZENBERG
translation from Russian by Boris Kokotov

It’s really nice around here

It’s really nice around here:
the weather’s warm, and girls are pretty,
springs merge into a larger stream
of vodka, wine, and other spirits.

The Naiads fall for simple baits,
so catching them is reasonably easy.
There is no need for nets or aqualungs.
It couldn’t be more rousing and pleasing.

And then it’s over. Hit the road
and come back home to cold and snow.
Amazingly, the memories are lost.
It’s all in vain. But maybe not, who knows.

When a roundelay ends don’t ask
why was it so precarious and fleeting—
just come together quietly at dusk
like fireflies that dance and softly flicker.  


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