Fate is above me. Why should I browse?
Sleeping in dosses, an outcast, I rove.
Grief is a cellar,
that opens in every old house.
A ditch is below me and fate is above.
What did I want? Well, a life of contentment.
What did I get? Just a coffin and wreath…
Under the cradle a grave has been latent.
Fate is above me, a ditch is beneath.
Up in the sky my soul, like a hound,
howls, despaired,
the trigger to pull it was keen.
Fate has come over my family background,
and on the earth where fate is my kin.
What have I done, apart from the simple
poems I’ve written in passing to date?
I’ve been a lightening conductor for people.
Now I have broken my back. Such is fate.
© Copyright Alec Vagapov’s translation
***
Andrei Voznesensky (Voznesenski, Voznesenskii, Voznesenskï, Wosnesenski, Woznesenski)
Andrei Voznesensky, Voznesenskii (1933-2010) was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, playwright and songwriter. Voznesensky is known for his experimental forms and language, and his works often touch on philosophical and social themes. He also wrote songs for musicians and performed them himself. He was a laureate of the USSR State Prize (1978).