I’ll please your curiosity at once: I’m here to cover every theme and entry! It’s true. I have a wife who’s born in France, But she has Russian parents and ancestry. I have no mistresses, I’m telling you. Will I have any? There is no intention. I have been sober for a year or two. But will I drink again? That is the question. And no, I don’t live in Sokólniki, I haven’t been to Paris yet. Why don’t you ask your questions properly? Don’t beat around the bush. Shoot straight! I’ll please your curiosity, good folks: I’ll tell you all as if it’s my confession! I see saliva dripping on your notes: The bedroom theme, I guess, holds sway in questions. And I was right! The interviewer blushed: "Have you betrayed your wives, including former?" As if he’d peeked behind the curtain’s plush Or bugged our bedroom with a tape recorder. And no, I don’t live in Sokólniki, I haven’t been to Paris yet. Why don’t you ask your questions properly? Don’t beat around the bush. Shoot straight! Now to the point that’s matters most to me. One, standing modestly, without advancing, Addressed me from his nook: "What did you mean In such a song and such and such a stanza?" Well, Aesop has not come to life in me. I hold no evil sign inside my pocket. And what I meant, I wrote - for you to read; My pockets are wide open - you can look at! And no, I don’t live in Sokólniki, I haven’t been to Paris yet. Why don’t you ask your questions properly? Don’t beat around the bush. Shoot straight!
© Kirill Tolmachev. Translation, 2024