Two poems By Milena Makarova Translated by Richard Coombes

1
Лишь скажи: «Приди!», и я приду -
По воде, по воздуху, по огню,
По серебряному, словно зеркало, льду.
Бриллиантом маленьким ограню
Этот день. Оберну его в черный шелк
Нежной ночи. Бережно сохраню.
Или может, жду, чтобы ты пришел -
По воде, по воздуху, по огню!

Just say: "Come!" and come I surely will
Across the water, through the air or fire,
Over the ice, a mirror, silver and still.
That day. A tiny stone I'll polish bright
And in the black silk of a tender night
I’ll wrap up safe; my heart will give it a home.
Or perhaps I’m waiting for you to come
Across the water, through the air or fire.

2
На одной из площадей Витербо
Я покупаю речной жемчуг.
«Смотрите, сеньора!» - говорит продавец,
Поднося зажигалку
К прохладному розовому ожерелью.
Пламя лениво ласкает
Несгораемые жемчужины...
Я опускаю жемчуг на дно
Потертой винтажной сумки
И иду себе дальше
Сквозь старинный квартал Пилигримов,
Мимо готических серых фонтанов
И дивных фасадов провинции Лацио,
Туда, где уже раскрывает объятья
Мое Возлюбленное Средневековье.
В сумрачной замковой зале
Серебряные руки-реликварии,
С застекленными ладонями,
Хранят кусочки пергамента,
Странные письма Богу,
Несгорающую латынь...

Витербо, 2008

In one of Viterbo’s squares
I buy a freshwater pearl.
'Look, signora!’ says the seller,
Bringing a lighter
To a cool pink necklace.
The flame lazily caresses
The fire-resistant pearls ...
I lower the pearls to the bottom
Of an aging, shabby handbag
And on I go
Through the ancient Pilgrims Quarter,
Past the grey Gothic fountains
And Lazio's marvellous facades,
Heading for the waiting embrace of my beloved Middle Ages.
In the gloomy castle hall
Silver reliquaries shaped like arms
With glass hands 
Keep safe scraps of parchment,
Strange letters to God,
Fire-resistant Latin ...

Viterbo, 2008

Milena Makarova is a Latvian poetess, essayist, journalist, and translator from Riga. Milena studied at the University of Latvia in Riga. She is the author of five volumes of prose and verse translations from Latvian into Russian. She writes her own original material in Russian, her latest anthology of verse being Новая мифология (A New Mythology). Her poems and translations have been published in numerous countries including Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Germany, and Israel. Milena is a member of numerous writers’ unions, and of PEN Latvia.

Richard Coombes has been a classics scholar, a musician, and an international tax specialist, and is now a literary translator. Richard’s published translations include short stories and poetry in literary journals; poetry in the bilingual World War II poetry collection ‘Frontovaya Lira’; and poetry in the bilingual anti-war anthologies ‘Disbelief’ and ‘Dislocation’. Richard’s translations of Elena Dolgopyat’s short story collection ‘Someone Else’s Life’ and ‘The Food Block’ (Alexei Ivanov’s novel «Пищеблок») are both now available worldwide.

22 May 2025