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FIRST DATES,
Trans. of Первые свидания
by Arseny Tarkovsky
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Dating: Our every moment
We celebrated, like epiphany,
Alone in all the light. You were
Bolder and slighter than a bird’s wing,
Upon stairs, in a daze,
Running down and leading the way,
Through your own wet lilac
To the other side of the mirror.

When night fell, ‘twas a mercy
Granted. The altar gates
Opened, and in the darkness you shone,
And slowly waned, naked.
And on my waking: “You are blessed!,
I said; I spoke and knew that bold
Benediction. You slept
And touched the eyelids
Of the cerulean cosmos —
You, lilac, stretched out from your shawl
And touched those blue eyelids,
Serene, with a warm hand.

And in the crystal, rivers pulsed,
Mountains smoked, seas glimmered,
And you held the sphere in your palm
Crystalline, and you slept on the throne
And—dear god!—you were mine.

You woke up and afforded
Everyday human language,
And speech, a new sonorous force:
You filled words with sound, and revealed
Their true sense, which was King.

Everything in all the light was changed
Simple things—basins, jugs—when
Between us, were like sentinels
Of stratified and solid water.

We were lead nowhere.
Before us parted mirages,
Made of urban miracles.
The mint was under our feet,
And the birds were with us on the road,
And the fish went up the river,
And the sky spun before my eyes...

Fate followed us along the trail,
Deranged, with a razor in hand.