Silence

by Gennady Aigi
translated by Anna Halberstadt

1.
in the invisible fire
from pulverized anguish
I recognize my superfluous existence
in the same way
as the poor know their last rags
and old utensils
and I know that this very
superfluousness
is what this country needs
from me
reliable like a secret pact:
silence as a way of life
for the rest of my life

2.
Yet keeping quiet — is a tribute, as for silence — it’s there for me.

3.
To get used to silence, such as the heart,
that quietly does its work
such as life
as some kind of place for it
and I exist in it, in the same way
as Poetry does
and I know, that my work is hard
and it exists by and for itself
like the night guard’s insomnia
at the city cemetery.