Orchard Poem by Vic Postnikov

Orchard

For this hell,
For this toll,
Gimme an orchard
When I’m old.

When I’m old,
Aged with grief,
When I’m tired
Of hunchback years…

When I’m old,
Gimme a treasure,
For the scorched years -
a cool pleasure…

For a fugitive,
Give an orchard:
To be lost again,
To be urchin.

With no orders, please,
With no ears,
With no wanderers,
With no sneers.

Can the orchard be
A trade-off for pain?
Just a lonesome place,
For a lonesome fate.

Just an orchard place,
For my ending rest,
Or, perhaps, the space
For my future quest?


- Marina Tsvetaeva,1 Sept 1934

(Trans. by VP)