You’ve left me - fine! I will not miss ya, Pray I won’t see you again! I’m off to goldmines in Siberia, Riding on a prisoners’ train. I know you won’t cry, won’t wait for me, And you won’t miss me at all. That’s OK with me, here for my country I’m gonna be digging gold. It’s all over now. No more clacking wheels. As the railroad tracks disappear. I can’t even howl out the pain I feel: Tears are gone for the next seven years. Don’t wait, I tell you, and don’t dismay, Don’t waste your worries in vain. Just remember: God help you, if one day I will ever see you again! I will do my time, yes, I will endure, And will come out free, just like that. But I’m now inside, properly secured, And I’m gonna try to forget. Here are the storms and the blue winters, I will live through them and through you. Behind me - seven thousand kilometers, And ahead - seven years of blue.
© Vadim Astrakhan. Translation, 2008
© Vadim Astrakhan. Performance, 2009