I Can At Least Bark Poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska

The dog has run away,

I have nothing more here to say,

It has really gone,

To the well known zone -

From the Ukrainian to the Russian border.

By the way, without anyone's order.

Through the revolutionary smog

Someone asked that dog:

Why are you running away?

Why don’t you want here to stay?

And the dog answered:

It’s so bad to live in Ukraine.

I am just loosing my brain!

That’s why I’ve decided to live in Russia.

I'll have there the best kasha.

But…a week later,

With the help of the Creator

With its eyes bulging,

Leaning on a cane,

The dog came back to Ukraine.

It was asked again:

Why did you come back?

And the dog answered:

I had a lack of actions,

With the absence of passions.

In Ukraine I can remain a dog,

And not be like an ugly frog.

In Ukraine I can at least bark.

Even at night when it is dark.



Larisa Rzhepishevska (Odessa, Ukraine)