Before the end of the year
and the closing of the century
Oh God, will you let me be misunderstood
By my contemporaries – whom I scolded like scum!
Will you let me remain shrivelled in fear
And leave this age – scolded by the scolded.
Oh give my compatriots additional prudence
To fully understand me and follow me in silence;
Don’t reprimand them too hard, nor make needless stir,
Teach them to stand upright when I speak!
Make it known, now and forever, WHO is WHO
And let me bear no guilt, as, while alive,
I outspoke only a few, and defeated even fewer.
Oh God, unleash your authority
And, while there’s time, stand by my side
To make me believe that I was a champion of the truth!
(Moscow, December, 1994)