Навіщо. What For

***

Yes, he came out of hell and remained intact.

Seven times near Death, and Death passed him by.

He has his arms and his legs and even some inspiration

To smile at those to whom he came out, no matter what.

He went on and on and he came, and emptiness came.

Huge and black as a well or an abyss.

In it, the maimed body of his most intimate friend,

Still not found, not brought to his family.

In his dreams, escaping the Ilovaysk cauldron again,

And every night his sworn brothers cannot hear

That they should not climb the fire engine

As it is in the sights of a tank, and the shot will be fired in a moment.

He cries out to them very loudly, and they are still laughing

And they don't hear, no they don't...

You can pour horilka into this emptiness,

A whole lot of horilka, and it's worse in the morning.

You can look away from all the peers in the city

Who laugh and sing and go to clubs and bars...

But how this blond guy resembles the one

Whose elbow was the only piece found and buried...

...This war won't end. This war will last for long.

We are mostly at war with ourselves.

In order to answer ourselves what the country does need:

Dying for her? Getting killed for her?

Electing the battalion commander to the parliament?..

...Everything that does not kill us strengthens us,

The strength to wait for long, until children are grown-up

And ask: What for our Father or Grandfather was killed?...

...Those who came out of hell will find how to answer.

24 September 2014