Grandma Sings
Grandma sings
in a faltering voice:
“There is a well in the field,
eagles drink the water”.
The young ones do not join her,
they don’t know the tune.
The melody barely – barely –
pushes its way through springs,
through losses, and the bygone years.
Hard to recognize the song,
as well as its performer,
among wrinkles, faded kerchiefs
and three cotton skirts.
I hold my helpless tears,
like the last hope,
that the world will stop
and hear them,
the song and the woman,
who fade, like a mirage
in time
and our memory.
translated from Ukrainian by Bogdan Boychuk