By Hanna Krevska
Translation: John Farndon, Kanstantsin Loichyts
MILLET
We’re like sifted millet.
Who will ask you in the morning
……………………………….
to identify a son by his tattoo,
a granddaughter by her earrings,
a woman by her manicure?
We’re like unsifted millet,
getting carried away further every night
………………………………….
to drink the first predawn light,
to drink coffee next to a candle,
to drink the stream of solitude.
We are like scattered millet.
We walk barefoot in the cold,
…………………………….
dream of mother in heavy clay[1],
father in a sculled boat[2],
great-grandfather in his fifth war.
We are like sown millet.
You have been bareheaded since last night
………………………………..
in the morning, you hide from yourself –
blue dreams, highlighted by grey hair,
a look too akward to laugh at.
We all are resown millet,
So let them be mourned
………………………………………….
sudden bullets, spilled like milk from a pail,
a drawn-out salvo cutting ice.
MILLET, forgive us that we
…………. fell down…….
22/01/2023
[1] To see clay in a dream signifies a threat of death or hard, excessive labour in Ukrainian foilk culture; sometimes it represents circumstances in which one is forced to exist unable to change anything.
[2] To dream of a boat with a single rower, as interpreted by Ukrainian folk beliefs, signifies the loss of a friend or spouse