“Why did We Meet?” - I asked the God
Author: Inna Lavrentyeva
“Why did we meet?” - I asked the God,
“Why is it that I love again as never did?”
The God responded: “Wait a little more,
Soon I will make you part – no more to meet.
You know, together you are not to be,
Not in this life for sure, just believe me,
But you yourself are well aware of this,
Law cannot be reversed, there’s not a thing for it.
It were you who asked to stay with him for blink,
For mere instance, just to look into his eyes.
No thanks, no gratitude from you I now need,
Though I’m aware you are sending curses up.
I gave you little more than you had asked,
If only for a shorter time, if not for endless spell.
But was is not for what you ever cried?
With him you’re happy, aren’t you?” And I will answer: “Yes!”
“Wasn’t it for what you ever prayed?
Feel happiness with him, be it for little while,
Say all you ever failed to say,
His tenderness, its smell to breathe inside.
You asked for kiss, I gave you nights,
You asked for tenderness, I gave you lust.
I gave you more, in vain you agonize,
It’s always painful falling from the height.”
“Do you remember, God, to you I prayed,
To let a part of him with me remain?”
And He responded in despondent way:
“I have this happiness in store for someone else.
Hold on to what you have, feel no regret for past,
And just remember that he was your happy chance,
That tenderness you keep in mind, with which you loved,
I’ll bring him back in dreams once you have closed the eyes.”
August 20, 2015
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Posted: Dec 2018
About this poem:
My translation of a Russian poetess for your pleasure, dear poets!
This poem is not about giving up on the past, we will cherish it to the end. It is about going on with our life and finding reasons to be happy, no matter what may be happening to us at the moment, cause life is more than the past, no matter how happy or troublesome, and it is more than the present with its worries and joys. Life itself is a precious thing appreciable in many ways with, sadly, end of the line at some point, so the mere fact of being alive and walking around seeing things should be filling us up with happiness!
Comments (5)
Thank you for this sad but beautiful translation Marikia.
Kathy