Crosses were not erected on nameless mass graves, And widows don’t cry here in pain, Someone brings a bouquet of flowers each day, And someone lights an Eternal flame. Earth here before was heaving with pain and fear, But now, granite covers someone’s son. There is not one personal destiny here - All destinies are merged into one. In the Eternal flame one can see a burning tank, And the old Russian huts, that smolder, Burning Reichstag and burning Smolensk, And the burning heart of a soldier. On nameless mass graves there are no tearful widows - Stronger kind of people come mainly here. Crosses were not erected on nameless mass graves, But does it makes it easier to bear?..
© Anatoli Trojanowski. Translation, 2020