By Lesya Bakun
Someone’s Dream
(Translated from Ukrainian to English by the poet herself)
Well then.
Finally, everything is done,
so that someone’s dream
does not come true.
Convene the musicians!
After all, this is hard work:
consistently doing everything
not to give anyone hope.
Or take it?
But in Mary’s poems,
Some weird, not at all like Zhadan’s*,
Angels are step dancing,
And, apparently, they feel good there
in the steppe.
*Zhadan – Well-known Ukranian writer Serhiy Zhadan
Rosehip Bush
(Translated from Russian to English by the poet herself)
I think life is
like a cauldron of boiling water:
No matter which side you touch,
you’ll get burnt.
I think life is
a rosehip bush:
Beautiful on the outside,
But it hurts a lot.
I think of life,
and its many aspects,
but I’m looking at the world
through my camera’s lens,
and it sees the world
with no lattice.
The Sad Philosopher
(Translated from Ukrainian to English by the poet herself)
How have I earned
such happiness?
This is more than good
for me.
I want to stay
a sad philosopher,
forever.
No changes.
No events.
No growth.
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Lesya (Oleksandra) Bakun is a polyglot poet and non-formal educator who resides in Ukraine. She has been writing since the age of 14, in Ukrainian, Russian, and English; her poems were published in the local young poets’ anthology. Oleksandra has the ‘young’ and ‘adult’ periods of her writing life, and challenges of each are vividly seen in the words she’s sharing – both as texts and in poetry readings. Her poems revolve around complex themes like trauma, gender, societal issues, relationships, and mental health.
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