It Is Not You Poem by Liza Sud
It Is Not You
It is not you but it is the devil who burns me,
but devil is always afraid of the name of Christ,
The name of Christ is as quiet and soft as waters.
in waters I feel comfortable and sublime.
It is not you but Joseph I want to merge with,
It is his commanding voice that I hear behind.
And he is Russian, but very unusual always,
And he is the Russian patriot though exiled.
Why do I think so? - because of his many poems
devoted to America - there is almost none,
Well, maybe for Mikhail Baryshnikov but no more still,
but dream of Russia whose people he still sees kind.
Why are his poems bringing me so much comfort
as if I'm embraced by heaven while still on earth,
and I don't have any trouble or place to hide from,
because I am in Brodsky's House of eternal Word,
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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9/19/2024 10:13:50 AM # 1.0.0.1119
The closing stanza clarifies and celebrates your high regard for Brodsky. I'm glad I read his poems and kept track of his life in America so that I can now appreciate your veneration of him. But your bond with him is transcendent, it is a deeply Russian experience. i admire this bond greatly but I would never be so vain to say, Oh, I know exactly what you mean by your love and respect for this poet. No, that would small-minded of me. There are unique experiences each individual has with another soul-presence as you do with Joseph. There's no room for another person, and that's the nature of this bond. It is one-on-one, as we say in English. He gives you strength from another realm, you keep his memory alive in this world. It's a blessed exchange, and it will thrive forever. I feel its truth and goodness vicariously, and that enriches me.