It hits me: oh my God, I've slept so many years
- It hits me:oh my God, I've slept so many years
It hits me: oh my God, I slept so many yearsAnd missed out on this sinful heaven!Poplars bloom. Cupolas blaze on the boulevard.I sit down on the bench. And breathe. And wipe my eyes.
A glass installer walks by. A reflected sun circle runs along the sand,over me, over the grass, over the baby in a wicker carriage,over my old neighbor—chasing the painout of her wrinkled, calcifying mask.
This old one's crept out in her antediluvian coat,and a Komsomol member hurries by with young brashness,but I know: in Moscow—in Russia—and in the world—nobodymeets spring with so grateful a song.
What clearness in the day's wide breaths …And each little leaf a treat for the eye.What a big wave carries me!Live, unfathomable life, blossom, and rebel, and work your will!
1927
Я думаю: Господи, сколько я лет проспалаи как стосковалась по этому грешному раю!Цветут тополя. За бульваром горят купола.Сажусь на скамью. И дышу. И глаза протираю.
Стекольщик проходит. И зайчик бежит по пескупо мне, по траве, по младенцу в плетеной коляске,по старой соседке моей - и сгоняет тоскус морщинистой этой, окаменевающей маски. [End Page 42]
Повыползла старость в своем допотопном пальто,идет комсомол со своей молодою спесью,но знаю: в Москве - и в России - и в мире - никтовесну не встречает такой благодарною песней.
Какая прозрачность в широком дыхании дня …И каждый листочек - для глаза сладчайшее яство.Какая большая волна подымает меня!Живи, непостижная жизнь, расцветай, своевольничай, властвуй!
1927 [End Page 43]
Sophia Parnok is a queer Russian-Jewish poet who lived from 1885 to 1993. At a time when Stalin's government termed homosexuality a disease, Parnok wrote openly of her romantic relationships with women, including the poet Marina Tsvetaeva. Parnok's works remained censored until 1979, when an edition of her collected poems was published in the United States. Despite the strength of her work and her influence on the poetry of her contemporaries (Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, Pasternak, Mandelstam, etc.), Parnok remains relatively unread and unknown.
Rainie Oet is a queer nonbinary writer and game designer. They are the author of Porcupine in Freefall (2019), Inside Ball Lightning (2020), and Glorious Veils of Diane (2021). They received an MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University in 2019. Read more at rainieoet.com.
