Haldor  Volcano




The Man"s Joy

         (Translated by Alec Vagapov)



	   

Catching snowflakes deftly with lips
He looked at the sky, his hair
Ruffled up in the wind like grass
That swayed in the steppe down there.



The slopes had sunk in the snowdrift,
The path was covered with frost.
The storm was whirling with snowflakes, 
The drunken was gone and lost.



The bath-house  chimney was smoking,
The heated stove was red-hot.
The old man put on his fur hat
From a jackal"s skin of a sort.



The man, absolutely naked,
Came out of the bath and ran.
And then like a dead body,
He lay on the snow, poor man. 



The snow was becoming stronger,
Blessing all and wishing good luck.
The man was happily  plucking
His scarf in the wind, like a flag.



The children shouted: let us
Make eyes for the snowman from earth.
The man fixed his eyes on the children, 
He had been stone-blind from birth.






December 31st, 2011.
07:57 am
Toronto, Canada