Author's website Alexander Korotko

1.
Tell me, poet,
where is the cliff
in the spiritual
mountain heights,
in whose form.
in whose likeness,
you were created?
Tell me, poet,
by what paths
did you go
to meet
Kipling and Rilke?
I know your
answer,
it accords
with my heart
and soul
and reflects
that spirit of freedom
which you feel
every moment.


2.
Smoky palms
of clouds and cumuli, of a star,
pursuit
of nocturnal fate,
I am a step away
from disaster.
I am unbreakable,
indifferent to
these barbaric
judges.
I come down from the mountain
or climb the mountain –
it’s not for me to judge,
God’s will be done,
it leads me as a guide,
that is my destiny,
with it, my son,
it is easier to breathe
and live, so live,
value freedom,
it is our destiny
so to live,
ours
and the Ukrainian people’s.

Translated by Michael Pursglove