Anatoliy Anatoliy: Translated by Olena O’Lear

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But Why Aren’t We Dead Our Lieutenant?

But why aren’t we dead, our Lieutenant?
We laid down our lives, as you taught:
we heavily bled, our Lieutenant,
bit into the ravings we got,

we sang psalms of old, our Lieutenant —
the songs of the wild virgin land,
expected the cold, our Lieutenant,
did everything at your command.

There’re milestones ahead, our Lieutenant,
beyond there’s a bridge to the blue.
But why aren’t we dead, our Lieutenant?
We got out, our brother. And you?

Swims like a colossus, Lieutenant,
above us a whale to the shores.
Look: there are the crosses, Lieutenant.
And somewhere among them is yours.
.

Чому ми живі, лейтенанте?

Чому ми живі, лейтенанте?
Ми гинули, як ти учив:
тонули в крові, лейтенанте,
вгризалися в марево снів,

співали псалми, лейтенанте —
мелодії диких степів,
чекали зими, лейтенанте,
робили все, як ти хотів.

Стовпи межові, лейтенанте,
за ними у небо мости.
Чому ми живі, лейтенанте?
Ми вибрались, брате. А ти?

Над нами кити, лейтенанте,
пливуть у поля на нічліг.
Дивися — хрести, лейтенанте.
І твій десь один серед них.

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Anatoliy Anatoliy (pen name) is a Ukrainian serviceman, Colonel, a participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war, poet, and philologist. Born in the city of Lutsk (Volyn) in 1970. Graduated from the Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University.

Olena Brosalina (pen-name, Olena O’Lear) is a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, and editor, Ph.D. Born in Kyiv in 1976, she is the author of two poetry collections: My Hand Is on the Headboard… (1997) and Pilgrims’ Songs (2006). She works as a translator in Astrolabe Publishing and translates mainly from English. She translated The Hobbit and other works by J. R. R. Tolkien, fairy tales by Beatrix Potter, prose works of Joseph Conrad, William Butler Yeats, and Beowulf. She has been awarded the Hryhorii Kochur (2012) and Maksym Rylskyi (2022) literary prizes and others.