To Valery Abramov
It happed so that our ways-roads are laid apart: One took the eastern road, the other - southern. It’s so sad to see how friends depart... It’s sudden, so sudden. For those who’re gone, some people, really, Care not a pence. I judge not others, but I most sincerely Believe in friends! It’s a time when I’m left on my own, The blizzard drifts the people’s souls and traces. Everything goes wrong, no use to moan - No friend, no complacence. For those who’re gone, some people, really, Care not a pence. I judge not others, but I most sincerely Believe in friends! When some day my friend comes back and says, “It was our error, let’s forget the bygones...” - We’ll both look at these unlucky days And smile, smile in silence. Yes, for those who’re gone, some people, really, Care not a pence. I judge not others, but I most sincerely Believe in friends!
© Akbar Muhammad. Translation, 2015
(akbarmuhammad.awardspace.co.uk)
[Adapted from Alec Vagapov’s “Suddenly our trodden ways must part...”.]