#  G.Z. (excerpt)

By [feeodcywac](https://paragraph.com/@feeodcywac) · 2024-06-05

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There is nothing worse than captivity

To remember the freedom. And I

About you, my dear,

This is what I remember. Never

Have you ever seemed to me

So beautifully young

\[And so lovely,

As you do now in a foreign land,

And in captivity. Fate! Fate!

My sung freedom!

At least look at me from across the Dnieper,

At least smile from across the . . . . . . . .

And you, my one and only,

Rise from the sea

Out of the fog, obedient

Pink dawn!

And you, my only one

You lead the way

My young years,

And before me

As if the sea were a barrier

Wide villages

With cherry orchards

And cheerful people.

And those people and that village,

Where I used to live as a brother,

Greeted me like a brother. Mother!

My old mother!

Do they still gather

The merry guests

To visit the old lady?

Just to have a walk

In the old-fashioned way

From world to world?

And you, my young

My black-haired children

You're my merry little girls

Are you still in the old woman's

Are you still dancing? And you, fate!

And you, my peace!

My holiday is marigold,

And still between them

Do you look so beautiful?

And those eyes,

Are black and blue,

Do you still charm

People's souls? Or do they still

Do they still wonder

At your flexible form? My holiday!

The only holiday!

When they step on you, fate,

The little girls

And chirp in their own way

In their own good way,

And maybe they'll remember me

The children will remember me.

Maybe one of them will say something about me

Will say something bad about me.

Smile, my heart

Hush, hush, hush

So that no one can see

That's all I can say.

And I, my dear, am in captivity

I'll pray to God.

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*Originally published on [feeodcywac](https://paragraph.com/@feeodcywac/gz-excerpt)*