I grew up like the entire street gang, We drank vodka, sang songs at night, And we disliked Serezhka Fomin Because he was educated and bright. We once sat in his apartment - There we used to meet to have fun - And comrade Molotov said on the radio That the war with Germans had begun. The military board told me: .Listen, kid, You’ll get saved from draft by the factory "Compressor". I just refused, while Serezhka Fomin Was saved from army by his daddy, the professor. I am spilling blood for you, my country, And yet my heart.s indignant with misgiving: I’m spilling blood for Serezhka Fomin, While he sits and enjoys the living. Right now, maybe, he visits movie theaters, There they show war chronicles a lot. Somehow I wish Serezhka Fomin was here, So he could get the taste of the German front. But finally the war came to an end. Each one of us returned from the bloody battle. So I meet Serezhka Fomin one sunny day, And on his chest - the most ranking Soviet medal.
© Nathan Mer. Translation, 1991