A vacancy instead of you

a vacant head, a vacant heart

the joy has never visited this space

no fires burnt there

afterward they usually stub

                      all

                      that remains

                      of our trees

somewhere underground

deep deep under this ground

there are the finest of our roots

no roots are softer, babies of our roots

so smooth yet bitter—

should I say entwined?

humus oh humus

you and I, we inhume us

A vacancy instead of you

One can get rid of any other one

of any dream

by stepping to a window

and shaking one’s head up

saying, fains I

saying, fains I

A vacancy instead of you

“In vain, enough already”

There’s mother’s voice,

its whispering, exhorting

like an old record I

used to fall asleep to

in the background.

Mother dear, in vain—

Mother dear, in vain

In vain/in vain/

Translated by Max Nemtsov