Someone spotted a fruit, still unripe Shook the branch and it fell, lacking poise There’s one who did not sing a line And was left unaware of his voice Perhaps, he had conflicts with fate And by chance, his plans went amiss But the guitar string had already been laid And its flaw was unknowingly missed He started humbly with a "do..." But never finished that one note His first accord fell much too flat He made an unexciting vice A dog was barking, and a cat Was chasing mice... It’s funny, don’t you think it’s wry? He left his joke halfway complete He did not fully taste his wine He didn’t even take a sip He was only plotting his fret He was timid and slow to begin And his soul, in large droplets of sweat, Still perspired from under his skin He was starting a duel, so inane He walked slowly onto the floor Only grasping the rules of the game While the ref hadn’t opened the score He yearned to know so much at once And yet, he never quite advanced And no conclusion could be drawn He never traveled deep enough And her, the one who’s still alone, He lacked a chance to fully love It’s funny; don’t you think it’s droll? He hurried, ran, but all in vain And riddles that he hadn’t solved Unsolved remained... What I’m telling you now aren’t lies He was pure to the style he held On the snow, he was writing her rhymes And it’s sad that the snow had to melt But it was snowing that day, and at least He was free to write on the snow On the run, he would catch with his lips Crystal flakes in their brilliant glow But to her, in a silver-gilt surrey He never made it all the way He had no time to sprint nor fly He never ran, the runaway His star sign - Taurus - from up high Just lapped the ice-cold Milky Way It’s kind of funny, don’t you think? Not having seconds, time was tight, And from a single missing link - Unfinished flight, unfinished flight... Seemed funny, didn’t it? Of course To you and me, it surely did A flying bird, a racing horse... Whose fault is it?
© Andrey Kneller. Translation, 2000