Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
SPRING
RENEWAL
The stone is overgrown with grass.
The sounding forest renews colours,
and spring trembles in leaves
sharing warmth like among brothers.
The blue distances lower
under the heaviness of birds’ flocks…
Here it is alongside – my beloved country –
my joys and sadnesses!
GREEN MOSQUES
Morning. Warm and calm.
Windoiw half open.
Something is given me from above
but by whose will?
I recognise myself in children,
I cherish the shelter.
I hear birds of poaradise
are singing in the green mosques.
BIRTH OF SPRING
With the usual words
into everyday life
I return again,
to morning in the darkness.
Farwell snow lies
on the peaks of the Kremlin…
This is how spring
is born in my city.
SONG OF THE RAINWATER PIPE
Like the stilled day
the pipe fell asleep on the breast of the building.
The sacrificial pipe’s love
stretched from roof to pavement.
Nothing was left
to need to endure.
Life inhaled
the cold breath of indifference.
Then in the dark, tired from the humdrum day,
the rain crept in smelling of snow.
The impossibility of happiness resulted
in the singing of the rainwater pipe.
CLOUDS MIGRATING AT SUNSET
The spring drops are silent
and their touch is ghostly.
The presentiment I feel now
is like a happy moment.
Like a miracle in freezing emptiness,
which strives to be born again.
Like a cloud flying to me…
Let nothing happen on the road!
WILLOW
primordial accomplishment –
the awakening of nature.
It seems nothing
happens, but still…
A flock of birds circles over the roof,
waiting to migrate.
And I feel, I know that
somewhere the willow is budding.
TH SHARP EDGE OF NIGHT
The doors of doorways are silent
like old gypsy women
who’ve forgotten how to tell
fortunes.
Triumphal shadows
tear the necklaces
of silver streetlamps
of the streets that are falling asleep.
In the viscous darkness of worries
my piercing window
and eyes are full of the breath
of sticky leaves.
Only there, ahead
over the sleeping Kazan river,
a very young crescent moon
is on the sharp edge of night.
UNPROTECTED JOY
What do I count on
and whom do I wait for from afar?
You see my life is unprotected
like a tree or a river.
I walk alone round midnight,
all around the dark thickens.
But spring glimmers in me
and the domes smell of bread.
TH SHARP EDGE OF NIGHT
The doors of doorways are silent
like old gypsy women
who’ve forgotten how to tell
fortunes.
Triumphal shadows
tear the necklaces
of silver streetlamps
of the streets that are falling asleep.
In the viscous darkness of worries
my piercing window
and eyes are full of the breath
of sticky leaves.
Only there, ahead
over the sleeping Kazan river,
a very young crescent moon
is on the sharp edge of night.
Transfer: Richard McCain
Olga Levadnaya is a world-famous Russian poet, Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan (2008), laureate of All-Russian and international literary awards, VII All-Russian Open Literary Festival of Festivals “LIFFT” (2007-2023), member of Russian and international literary unions (1997-2022) , Ambassador of Peace (2021), member of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly (2023), artistic director of the Kazan Poetry Theater “Dialogue” (2016), creator and director of the Interregional Music and Poetry Festival “Handshake of the Republics” (2017-2023).
Olga Levadnaya is a world-famous Russian poet of Russia, Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan (2008), laureate of All-Russian and international literary awards, VII All-Russian Open Literary Festival of Festivals “LIFFT” (2007-2023), member of Russian and international writers’ unions (1997-2022) , Ambassador of Peace (2021), member of the Eurasian Assembly (2023), artistic director of the Kazan Poetry Theater “Dialogue”, creator and director of the Interregional Music and Poetry Festival “Handshake of the Republics” (2017-2023).
Author of the books: “I live in anticipation of snow” (1992), “Walk through the vicious circle” (1998), “In free fall upward” (in Russian and Tatar languages, 2003), “Close to our past” (2003), “Rising down the ladder of thoughts” (2005), “Memories grow from the cry of birds” (in Russian, English, Tatar and Turkish, 2005), “Stargate” (2010), “Wind of the Heart” (2014), “Vocal works based on poetry Olga Levadnaya” (2020), “Favorites” in two volumes (2022), “Wind of the Heart” (in Russian and Tatar, India, 2022), “Wind of the Heart” (in Tatar, USA, 2022), “Turkish Tales “(in Russian and Turkish, Turkey, 2022), “Climbing the Stairs of Thought” (in Russian and English, India, USA, 2023), “Turkish Tales” (in Russian and Turkish, India, USA, 2023), “Favorites” in 2 volumes (India, USA-2023).
