I decided that on Hive I will be myself. Like, REALLY myself.
So I am starting my art diary and this is for me. I am not sure someone need that, but why not? This is one of the forms of the self-expression in 21st century.
Today I want to share one of my favourite Ukrainian poems. This one is written by Andriy Luybka.
Poems – are failed attempts at suicide.
Rain begins with a cloud, death begins with autumn,
you begin with me.
To watch the clock is like watching grass grow.
I will never forget how you danced in the dark,
tired and without music.
I will never forget this autumn,
this blade, these veins,
the noose, your tongue—like a knife—along my neck.
To care for stray dogs,
to read yellowed newspapers,
to comb one’s hair.
To open the Gospel at any page,
to read for a long time, to read aloud for a long time—
as if I were the one who walked the earth
at the beginning of our era,
as if I were the one who lied to the apostles,
as if it were me who was crucified.
To talk with poets and all sorts of other artists—
sculptors, actors—
to follow the course of political events,
as if the television were a huge window into space.
For some reason, I love most of all
to be photographed in naked landscapes—say, in autumn.
I deeply regret that it’s impossible
to photograph a scent,
or what lies beyond the frame.
So I must describe it—
long strings of words
threaded onto standard paper.
I must drink a lot to write,
just drink a lot,
just write a lot.
I will never forget how you danced in the dark,
because rain begins with a cloud,
death begins with autumn,
you begin with me.
You remain in my memories
like on developed film—
I recall you most often while in darkness
(during sleep, for example),
I recall you most often
dancing in the dark:
without music, tired, but happy.
“Do you love me?” Jesus asks you,
cutting off Van Gogh’s ear.
From time to time, to change my life,
I convert to Islam
or join some communist party,
amuse myself primitively,
having almost given up on drugs,
abstain from sex,
remembering how you danced in the dark.
I pay extraordinary attention
to cooking food,
to gathering fallen leaves and acorns,
carefully digging around young trees.
Rain begins with a cloud,
death begins with autumn,
you begin with me.
