Clothes needed for a woman, 79,
From a city which is no more to find.
A T-shirt M – that’s Mariupol,*
A Jacket L - that's Lisichansk,*
And Brassier B - that’s Bucha, Borodyanka.**
She’s only got a passport and hysterics every time.
And a grandchild’s photo, with a tank,
Who's always lacking boots and pants.
Could be not new – who in this world are new? –
Yet properly a-washed and fitting.
Who’s got this stuff? Who could deliver promptly?
And when this hell would finally collapse,
We’ll pass the stuff to homeless surely.
Yet now we badly need boy’s stuff.
He’s just been born to where remain
The only human’s parts.
Where was he all those awful years?
Somewhere where no Azov steel***,
Where cats are running at their will;
Where no buryats, moscovites,
Where no forest with their mines,
Where he is served with breakfast manna,
Where skies are empty and tranquil,
Where he walks happily with mamma.
*Mariupol, Lisichansk - destroyed cities in the Eastern Ukraine;
**Bucha, Borodyanka - destroyed Kiev suburban villages;
*** Steel plant in Mariupol, a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
* * *
Евгения Беркович
Нужна одежда на женщину, Семьдесят девять лет