(to the soldiers serving in the Far East)
Past happiness cannot be re-created, You move ahead and be a manly ranger! All former joys are quickly outdated, You must go on and seek a new adventure! The Far East Nature’s cruel, tough and harming, It dumps the skies onto the ocean bed! But here folks are tougher than tsunami, With fierce storms in every soul and head! This life is filled with risk and constant danger, Here nobody’s protected and secured. But real men who never lick the trencher By deadly perils are forever lured! The Far East nature’s cruel, tough and harming, It dumps the skies onto the ocean bed - Then from the depth arises the tsunami And crashes all in every soul and head! The sea is still - but still you feel the tension, The radar senses any hazard coming. And then the siren rings: “Alert! Attention!” It is the worst scenario - tsunami! I praise all those, serving in the army, They are the first to face the horrid squall! But there’s grief more awful than tsunami, And bliss much bigger than this wailing wall!
© George Tokarev. Translation, 2005
Edited by Robert Titterton