By Marina Tsvetayeva

(1921)


Higher than trumpets and crosses,
Christened in the smoke and the flame,
Archangel-heavystep - 
In centuries Vladimir, hey!

He's the cabbie and the stallion,
Both the right and the caprice,
He breathes in, into his palm spits:
- Hold on tight, broken fame!

The singer of town-square marvels,
Hey there, sooty boy - so proud -
Who called a heavy rock the true stone,
Untempted by the diamond!

And hey there, blocky thunder! 
Who yawned, tipped his cap - and once more
Keeps on rowing through the noise - with the wing
Of a junkyard archangel.