He was not born with stature or status Not for glory, not for hire With his own unusual verve Through his life he walked high above us On a wire, on a wire Stretched out like a nerve Look, he walks in plain sight, with no safety at all! Just a tilt to the right - he will die in a fall To the left should he slide - do not bother to pray But calm down! He just needs to stay For four quarters of the way
                         
And the spotlights were breaking his tempo And like laurels needled along The tuba was waking the dead He was deafened by the shouts "bravo" And the gong, and the gong Like a thunderbolt in his head! Look, he walks in plain sight, with no safety at all! Just a tilt to the right - he will die in a fall To the left should he slide - do not bother to pray But calm down! He just needs to stay For mere three quarters of the way Ah, how scary, how charming, how daring Just three minutes to resolution! At this battle with death gaping wide From the stands they were dismally staring - Lilliputians, Lilliputians They appear to him from the height Look, he walks in plain sight, with no safety at all! Just a tilt to the right - he will die in a fall To the left should he slide - do not bother to pray But don’t panic! He just needs to stay For another two quarters of the way He laughed at the fleeting renown But aimed to be always the first That sort is as tough as they come! Tough as nails, right over the crowd On the nerves, upon our nerves He walked to the rolling drum! Look, he walks in plain sight, with no safety at all! Just a tilt to the right - he will die in a fall To the left should he slide - do not bother to pray But calm down! He just needs to stay For a mere one quarter of the way To the screams circus tigers reacted On the stretcher placing paw tips But his sentence was ruthless and plain Overconfident or may be distracted In the wood chips, in the wood chips He spilled his blood and his pain! But today, someone else, with no safety at all! A thin cord underneath - he could die in a fall Right or left should he sway - and for this one don’t pray But he too badly needs for some reason to stay And walk four quarters of the way
© Boris Gendelev. Translation, ?