Kulikovo Field

by Dmitri Prigov
     translated by Sibelan Forrester

So here I’ve set them all out in their places
Those ones there I’ve put on the right
Those ones there I’ve put on the left
I’ve left all the rest to put there later
I’ve left the Poles to put there later
I’ve left the French to put there later
And the Germans to put there later
Here I’ve set out my own angels
And I’ve put ravens overhead
And I’ve put other birds above
While below I hand the field over
For a battle I’ve handed the field over
I’ve surrounded it with trees
Surrounded it with oaks, with firs
I’ve put some bushes here and there
I’ve spread a bed on the ground with soft grass
I’ve settled it with various insects
Let it all be as I’ve imagined
Let them all live as I’ve imagined
Let them all die as I’ve imagined
Let the Russians be victors today
After all the Russian guys aren’t bad
And the Russian gals aren’t bad
They’ve suffered a lot, the Russians
They suffered horrors, the non-Russians
So today the Russians will be victors
What will be here, if already now
The earth’s crumbling up already now
And the sky is dusty already now
The underground species are collapsing
And the underground waters are rushing about
And underground beasts are rushing about
And the people who live on earth are running
They run here and there on earth close to the earth
And the birds above the earth have gathered
All the birds, the ravens above the earth
But still the Tatars are rather nicer
And to me their faces are rather nicer
And to me their voices are rather nicer
And their names are rather nicer
Though the Russian ones are rather neater
But still the Tatars are rather nicer
So let the Tatars be the victors
From here I will see everything
The Tatars, that is, will be the victors
And anyway—tomorrow we’ll see