By Andriy Kostynskyi
Translation: Tyler Langendorfer
***
there’s no reception at the top
at the top of the hill
this hill is in the lowlands
and even its peak is low
somewhere at the other end of the line
they wait for my call
they wait for my response
to open it! and answer!
it takes a long time
to call
to go to other hills
to get reception
worst of all is the uncertainty
you write and you wait
they will leave, they won’t leave
no service no service no –
when you pray you know
that everything is fine
at the other end
of life
***
CONSTELLATION NECKLACE
over the city the moon rises
peering through all the windows
even where the walls
were shattered by bombs and shells
the wind plunges through the city
enters the eye
of the needle-beam
flies through all the windows
even where the walls
after aircraft and artillery
covered the earth
with jagged armor
over the city an angel ascends
joining both ends of the thread
with a knot
rising higher and higher
a necklace of windows
even those
whose walls did not keep
their eyes
eyes in the chasms of the icons
that hung in the corners
are full of tears
because they were powerless
to keep the walls
in the face of destruction, in the face
of enemy attacks
every night the constellation
gazes through its salvaged windows
upon the place
where the city once stood
even through those
that once had walls
and now have none