See this old and heavy curtain? Raise it gently, like a chalice. Time it used to be so certain! So uniform! Look, Alice! But the happy rarely tasted Time. And the timid barely tested Time. The rowdy unfairly hastened Time. The lazy arbitrarily wasted Time. Time, over the years, Wore down its gears. All moving parts are subject to wear! Time decided this was not fair. His pendulum froze in midair. The clock did not strike midnight on purpose. Noon did not come, didn’t tell us... Time has become so nervous. So stressful! Look, Alice! At once the happy started keeping time. And cried the feeble-hearted: weeping time! The loud-mouths startled: reaping time! The lazy disregarded: sleeping time! Every year, please, Give the gears grease! Time is in great pain from all the wear! Be gentle and let Time repair. Life without Time feels so bare...
© Vadim Astrakhan. Translation, 2017
© Vadim Astrakhan. Performance, 2017