By Siarhiej Vahanaŭ
Translation: Hanna Komar, John Farndon
JOURNALIST
To K. A.[1]
She was held in the police station all night.
She was offered marshmallows and coffee:
„Hey treat yourself, they’re the best all right!
Much better than Akrestina’s chifir tea…
Your hunger strike is total idiocy!
You need to weigh more than a fly?!
Here, you can have a Korovka candy…
You don’t want it? Come on, just try…“
It really couldn’t hurt you to eat a bite.
A rainbow mist then crept to her eye.
And she thought: he is cursing me inside,
This supercaring captain guy!
The film crew is now at the ready.
The camera lens shines like a mirror…
„Come on, eat!“ their eyes begged dumbly.
“Just eat, and you’ll be free the sooner…
Don’t spoil the nice picture we’ve got for TV.
The propaganda hooks are hanging.
OMON’s not about violence only,
Nor wild bullets and guns firing…“
She was held in the police station all night.
They hoped to get a good portrait.
But they’ll never understand the fight
Of those of the very top grade.
[1] Kaciaryna Andrejeva
AT THE FIRING RANGE
An agreement has been signed
for placing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus…
News of the day.
The scenes of war are coming to us live.
Smoke with no smell. Blood with no pain…
We find ourselves again trying to survive
As targets in a firing range.
Where everything is real entirely.
But we are not afraid of the fire
Because the wire decides directionality.
And we are hanging on the wire…
OF LIGHT AND SHADOW
In the evening, at night or in the morning
When anxious day creeps through the window,
Let’s light a candle to continue remembering.
The more Light there is, the shorter the shadow.
* * *
If, God forbid, for real or apparently
Our state vanishes into the void some time,
You should know: it was killed, definitely.
Although the killer will say it was suicide.