TO MY BROTHER by Nataliya Medvedovskaya and poet Yefim Medvedovskiy.
TO MY BROTHER by composer and pianist Nataliya Medvedoskaya is based on a poem by Yefim Medvedoskiy. It is performed by Nataliya Medvedovskaya, piano, and Zoya Gramagin, soprano, at the Musicians Club of New York, Victor Borge Hall, Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave., NY, NY, on March 11. 2017.
Here is the test of the poem in English and in the original Russian:
TO MY BROTHER -- Poem by Yefim Medvedovskiy. English translations by Alexandra Palmer.
Hauling his little brother
Home, daycare, and back,
Tractor-like: 'long the rather
Arduous blockade track.
Scurvied legs' bonded pair
In the Bloated snow,
Through the Sennaya Square,
Dawn to darkness, they tow.
Bak'ry-hold the sled firmly--
A warm stop on our way.
Wish for-stale edges only-
Those dark loaves on display.
We stand still, losing, bravery,
Crave the loaves. Yet, instead
We dine on at this bakery
The mirages, not bread.
Back to sled, off we steer
On the snow's heavy mar.
Happiness is not near,
Victory is too far.
БРАТУ
По блокадному тракту:
Дом-детсад-и обратно,
Будто маленький трактор,
Вез ты младшего брата.
Ног цинготных оковы-
По опухшему снегу,
По Сенной, по Садовой-
От обеда к ночлегу.
По пути-в руки санки-
Будем в булочной греться.
Нам от черствой буханки-
Хоть бы корочку хлебца!
Мы стоим, оробели,
Взглядом хлеб провожаем...
И как будто поели,
Cыты вновь миражами.
Снова санки по насту.
По тяжелому следу...
Далеко нам до счастья-
Долог путь до победы...