No thrills and no excitement, everything is old and dull. I feel like I’m about to kick the bucket! I wish a bus would hit me or a brick fell on my skull, That would be both memorable and lucky. I lucked out! I lucked out for once! Had enough of the Fortune’s caprices! A dump truck, weighing twenty five tons, Smashed my spine into twenty five pieces. Now I am in a cast, ravaged savagely. Every part of me is packaged separately, Individually... doesn’t bother me As I gradually make recovery. The moment of the impact was too fleeting to enjoy. I then lounged for a year in a coma. And I admit: at first I felt bitterly annoyed But then I saw a blessing in my trauma. I’ve become an unstoppable force, Armor-clad to the teeth from the onset. All I want is to call out: “My kingdom for a horse!” And ride out of the ward into sunset. But I am in a cast, ravaged savagely. Every part of me is packaged separately, Individually... doesn’t bother me As I gradually make recovery. If you have never been hit with a 2 by 4, I pity you: you don’t know what you’re missing. And yes, without concussions your life is such a bore. A cast upon your body is a blessing. Thank you, doctors! It’s such a delight To be tied to these ropes and cables. And I swear: sometimes in the night Like an astronaut I’m feeling weightless. Here I am in a cast, ravaged savagely. Every part of me is packaged separately, Individually... doesn’t bother me As I gradually make recovery. All senses are blocked out, except the pain I feel, But I refuse to make it an obsession. I am like a baby wrapped tightly to my heels, Surrounded by genuine compassion. For the care I’ve nothing but praise (My hot nurse made me - appreciate it). And I swear: to the end of my days I’d stay in this cast, incarcerated. Here I am in a cast, ravaged savagely. Every part of me is packaged separately, Individually... doesn’t bother me As I gradually make recovery. I only wish I weren’t haunted by the past. It’s like a piercing knife for the disabled. In my dreams I escape from the shackles of my cast. I dream of candles, poetry, and sabers! Strong you are, my white bulletproof vest. Heck, the sharpest of claws cannot cleave you! Just one minor thing leaves me depressed: That I can’t scratch myself underneath you. That I am in a cast, ravaged savagely. Every part of me is packaged separately, Individually... doesn’t bother me I’ll eventually make recovery. I’ve now completely healed, but not taking off my cast. The tusks are coming out, hitherto dormant. Let my family complain! I’m having such a blast! This way I feel so massive and important! Like a tank through the streets I now stray With pedestrians running for cover. I’m an elephant! Out of my way! In my thick skin I cannot be bothered. Here I go through the world unassailably. I’m a wild wrecking ball, packaged separately. Individually... doesn’t bother me! As I gradually make recovery.
© Vadim Astrakhan. Translation, 2017
© Vadim Astrakhan. Performance, 2020