Today as many times before by Anatoly Ivanushkin
Today as many times before
by Anatoly Ivanushkin
Today as many times before,
the sun has lit a streak of fire in the sky.
But in the morning of the new day
I am pushed from the hastening trolley bus
like a cork from a bottle.
Men and women love the dawn for its freshness,
for its promise of new beginnings.
In the morning therefore,
I am not afraid to have chosen,
to live a life, unlike that of other young men.
This gorgeous morning poem is one of the ones David brought into my life, and he found it in The Moon Is Like a Silver Sickle: A Collection of Poems by Russian Children, translated by Miriam Morton, published by Simon & Schuster in 1972. This is notable because it was written by a 15-year old. No idea what became of him, or if he wrote further, it’s virtually unfindable online. I find it very tender, the age of the author, the “I am not afraid to have chosen” especially against the backdrop of Russia, and I wonder what became of him.
