A Parrot at Sea

After a ship had been wrecked
A parrot was left in a cage.
He floats on a plank - for as long
As the ocean pleases.

He picks away at words
Like his own silky plumage,
Lets them go — and seizes them again,
Pecks them and again throws them aside.

He sings a song of a mulatto woman
Or suddenly shrieks at the top of his voice
On the very crest of a roller,
Poor little polly wants a vodka.

And he casts such proud glances
Across that watery plateau.
How the arrogance of weak and helpless
Creatures touches the heart.

Nodding his head, he murmurs:
I agree, but even so...
On the other hand, hardly, surely,
Essentially and moreover...

On his slippery plank
He sits and sings along,
Brazil and love are clutched
In his yellow claws,

He squints a sleepy eye
In order to trick the sea:
Teufel!...To some extent
And strictly speaking...

But the waves grow darker and steeper
And at nightfall the ocean rages.
He tucks his head in his feathers
And sleeps, as trustful as a child.

And the blind darkness and the grey
Dishevelled ocean dissolve
The tiny reddish-golden,
Green and light blue bundle.

Translated from the Russian by Michael Molnar
photo: Rossano B.Maniscalchi