One for the Road, by Sergei Lavrov

Sergei Lavrov

It takes a thick skinned man to serve as Vladimir Putin’s ambassador to the world for a term, let alone for almost two decades, but it seems Moscow’s most senior foreign official, hailed as “the formidable face” of Putin’s foreign policy has a softer side.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who has headed the ministry since 2004 after spending the decade prior as Russia’s ambassador in the UN, has published a series of beat poems in today’s issue of the Russian arts magazine Russkiy Pioner (Russian Pioneer).

ПОСОШОК

Ну вот и подана карета,
И похмелились кучера.
И в дымке нового рассвета —
Огни вчерашнего костра.
Гнедых коней впрягли надежных,
И столбовой свободен тракт,
И шпага вынута из ножен,
Как будто нет пути назад.
Пришиты новые погоны,
И вылит на душу бальзам.
Святые отданы поклоны
Родным могилам и крестам.
Уж бьют копытами гнедые,
И пыль стряхнули с вензелей,
Долги погашены былые
Ценою новых векселей.
Со скрипом тронулась карета,
Просевши низко на осях.
И кучер правит на Манхэттен,
Кнут над гнедыми занося.
Вот, набирая обороты,
Колеса замесили грязь,
Но словно сзади держит кто-то,
Не отпускает, навалясь.
Все тяжелей ступая в глину,
На шаг гнедые перешли.
Не пересилить пуповину,
Что протянулась из земли.
Так и себя не пересилить,
Хоть кажется — почти сумел.
За нашу слабость. За Россию.
За наш удел и наш предел.

Март 1989 года

Reference: Эмигранты — не русское слово.

Google Translate

One for the road, Sergei Lavrov

Well, that's filed coach,
And the hangover coachman.
And in the haze of a new dawn -
Lights the fire yesterday.
Bay horses harnessed reliable,
And the pillar free path,
And the sword unsheathed,
As if there is no turning back.
New straps are sewn,
And poured balm on the soul.
The Saints are given bows
Family graves and crosses.
Already beat hoofs bay,
And dust is shaken with monograms,
Old debts repaid
At the cost of new bills.
Creaking carriage moved on,
Sagging low on the axes.
And the driver is ruled to Manhattan
Whip over the bay holding up.
Here is gaining momentum,
Wheels kneaded mud,
But if the back is holding someone
Do not let go, in bulk.
All lumbered into the clay,
Step bay crossed.
Do not overpower the umbilical cord,
That stretches from the ground.
And myself do not overpower,
Though it seems - almost failed.
For our weakness. For Russia.
For our destiny and our limit.

March 1989

Lavrov’s first poem, written in 1989 as his term as Russia’s ambassador the UN’s New York headquarters had come to an end, is entitled One for the Road and it draws inspiration from a Manhattan horse carriage ride bordering on profundity with such illuminating turns of phrase such as the line: “How the hooves pound at the bay, and shake off the dusty inscriptions, old debts were duly paid, but at the expense of brand new bills.”

At the end of the poetic tour de force Lavrov’s narrator emerges from the carriage and remarks: “Ever-heavy I step into the clay, with a single step I cross the bay, I must not strain the umbilical cord, that stretches far across the land.”

Reference: Russian Foreign Minister Publishes New York-Inspired Beat Poetry.

The algorithms for Google Translate have much room for improvement, but which, along with the Newsweek article, nevertheless give us a sense for the poetry.  I love hearing about poetry coming out from someone, whom we do not expect to have poetry in him.