I woke to find the day was night
The mist of dew dried out
The morning jay’s song of delight
Replaced by music’s drought
I woke to find the trilling birds
Had flown down south for summer
The snow had come of cold curse words
And war beats of fate’s drummer
I woke to find an era gone
Its dreams dead for re-gift
An age had come and now twas done
And I never knew it lived
© Viktoria Nikola (2018)
Like the typical Russian, I love Pushkin’s work. It’s so profound and heartbreaking and it captures the very essence of all tortured souls. Unfortunately, it’s really difficult to translate and make it sound as good in English as it sounds in Russian. Nonetheless, I tried. Here’s my favorite Puskin poem, translated by yours truly.
The Angel
By the gates of Eden, an Angel, gentle
Shone with his softly drooping head,
And in the darkness a Demon, rebel
Over the hellish ravine fled
The sp’rit of doubt and of negation
Looked at the other one of good
And in a flame of forced elation
For the first time, he understood
“Pardon,” he said, “but I have seen you
And not in vain you’ve shined me light
Not all in heaven I had hated,
Not all on earth I had despised.”
Alexander Pushkin
Translated by Viktoria Nikola
I didn’t choose to be a paradox
It’s simply so unorthodox
And seem to be a dark anomaly
A weird asserted mystery
Somehow defined by ambiguity
Make rational decisions stupidly
I didn’t wish it, but here I am
I am a lamb; I am a ram
I’m definitely undefined
Confused, refused, then re-defined
I am not sure and yet assured
That when time comes I am insured
I’m two unlikes on the same end
I am a good, which good amends
Stranger than thou, weaker than thou
But somehow plow a larger plow
Two parallels run within me
Both magnet polars, complexity
I seem to live in joyous death
Yet I take pleasure in every breath
Unsatisfied in my content
And happily at times lament
I live inside pure non-conformity
Thus love’s a burden, hence I am free
© Viktoria Nikola
I’m running to the finish line
And I ignore the pain
I’m running to the finish sign
Soon I will win; soon I will reign
I’m running, but the goal’s far-set
Nor do I hear my chanted name
My victory’s a silhouette
For I have promised the crowd my fame
Deep in my veins I feel the rush
Of triumph’s gold-heaving breath
And in my ears the audience’s hush
Is pumping, throbbing, killing death
Inside my heart I feel the joy
I sense the soon relief
And then despite the ache decoy
I soar, I fly, and I believe
There is no one to say I can’t
Although I hear this cry
For blessed God, whose blessed grant
Is confidence doubts can’t defy
For me, there’s no more time
I’ve won, I’ve reached my goal
I am the victor, calm, sublime
And I am great and I am whole
© Viktoria Nikola
Between the words that are spoken, there lies a fragment of truth
Where life exists unaltered, where being roams in sooth
Where spirit finds its essence and egos cease to exist
Between the words that are spoken, before it fogs over with mist
Between the breaths that are taken, a hint of forever dwells
The shards of immortal presence, the songs of eternal bells
The nothing in all existence, the everything in a void
Between the breaths that are taken, we live, before we’re destroyed
Between the thoughts that are rising, our consciousness dares to be
Our limitless burning power, our soul’s perpetuity
Our senses in endless directions, impervious to demise
Between the thoughts that are rising, WE ARE, until silence dies
But with every quiet instant, we resurrect anew
Like the stillness of a sunrise, like the drops of a morning dew
And in these silent moments, we are love and truth and space
We find ourselves in nothing, then in something lose the trace
© Viktoria Nikola (2018)
Between the words that are spoken, there lies a fragment of truth
Where life exists unaltered, where being roams in sooth
Where spirit finds its essence and egos cease to exist
Between the words that are spoken, before it fogs over with mist
Between the breaths that are taken, a hint of forever dwells
The shards of immortal presence, the songs of eternal bells
The nothing in all existence, the everything in a void
Between the breaths that are taken, we live, before we’re destroyed
Between the thoughts that are rising, our consciousness dares to be
Our limitless burning power, our soul’s perpetuity
Our senses in endless directions, impervious to demise
Between the thoughts that are rising, WE ARE, until silence dies
But with every quiet instant, we resurrect anew
Like the stillness of a sunrise, like the drops of a morning dew
And in these silent moments, we are…
View original post 20 more words
This moment is now fleeting, though aching for its life
It’s pulsing to its death bed, surrendering its blithe
A bitter-sweet conclusion to a severed fairy-tale
This moment we are living, our truth within unveiled
Tis like maestro’s playing his concert’s final note
The heartache in the silence before the verdict spoke
A glance exchanged by lovers before their last good-bye
Their eyes, in mind, immortal, but in time that instant dies
The last remaining ornament taken off the tree
The final gaze upon the coffin after the last eulogy
The closing of the eyelids before a long awaited kiss
The tremb’ling lips first contact before their parted bliss
Our lives are made of minutes that tear us at our core
Remind us we are mortal, we’ll face that closing door
One day that final minute will come – our final breath
And we shall realize every instant is living through its death
This moment is now fleeting, though longing to survive
It’s yearning to outlive its temporary life
And yet, despite its dimming, it burns with unmatched might
One hundred years of passion…
And then it yields to night
Viktoria Nikola
I'm honored to have been asked to join the wonderful writing collective called The Literati Mafia. Thank you, dear writers, for letting me share my words with you. I'm excited and humbled to be here. And, I suppose, a first-post is in order. Here's a poem I wrote a while ago about the fleeting human life. This moment is now fleeting, though aching for its life It’s pulsing to its death bed, surrendering its blithe A bitter-sweet conclusion to a severed fairy-tale This moment we are living, our truth within unveiled Tis like maestro’s playing his concert’s final note The heartache in the silence before the verdict spoke A glance exchanged by lovers before their last good-bye Their eyes, in mind, immortal, but in time that instant dies The last remaining ornament taken off the tree The final gaze upon the coffin after the last eulogy The closing of the…
View original post 98 more words
Let towers fall, let bridges crumble Let thunder roar and lightning flash Let comets strike, volcanoes rumble Let heaven turn to ash Let worlds collide, gravity surrender Let Armageddon scream its strife Let illness plague; let gold lose splendor Let death rule over life Let shackles break of all the Titans Let chains of hell lose all their might Let Hades vanquish Mount Olympus Let darkness be our sight Let stars lose foresight of what’s fated Let every color be one hue Let hate be loved, let love be hated And even then… I’d still love you Viktoria Nikola 2013
I’ll sail to the edge of the cosmos Where the novae thunder their storm Where light surrenders to darkness Where love looses its warmth I’ll walk in the footsteps of heroes Courageous and driven in stride When Scylla and Charybdis taunt me I’ll shudder, I’ll weep, then I’ll fight I’ll battle the three-headed dragon The one with fire in its breath Ouranos shall meet my sweet vengeance Then Cronus, then Zeus and then death I’ll triumph where others have failed En guard! Parry! Then, attack! I’ll wield that steal sword as I sail Look forward and never turn back I’ll voyage to the edge of the cosmos To save you, I’ll journey that sea But when I shall find you my darling, Will you want to be saved by me? Viktoria Nikola 2013
I know, my darling poet, how you bleed A gushing wound of bloodied metered rhyme And yet this gash is what us humans need To deal with life possessed by pain and time I know the ache and tears that haunt your soul The broken heart you carry in your chest I know that all you wish is to be whole A modicum of joy from life to wrest But, ah, the only treatment left for you Is like a humor doctor t’bleed your thoughts And for the briefest moment, you are new Until the fragile thread of wellness rots Accept your fate, my dearest poet friend For with your illness you can heal the ill And with your literary blood on lend You might restore another’s broken will Viktoria Nikola
Impervious, impregnable, unnerving Undoubtedly the best in all of me Unnecessarily I wished to be But here I am, the life within still churning It’s burning, aching, trembling, weeping Like someone said “I love you,” then “goodbye” And even worse, the light it held is seeping Through every cleft created with each sigh It dies with daylight, then resurrected A trick it learned drinking dreamless nights alone Or rather drunk on darkness as expected By universal laws of “reap and sow” Impervious, impregnable, unnerving Involuntarily I’m cast a diamond heart But underneath the stone, I’m bleeding, hurting I’m guessing God perceives this as his art Viktoria Nikola
