translated from the Russian by Sasha Dugdale
Wind. The blue of the mountains invisible
In the twilight, under winter stars
Our little house is covered in snow
I hear the dogs barking
By the village gates
Through snow and wind
Someone is coming home.
Foreign words melt in the cheek
Like sugar cubes.
Excerpts from HOLY WINTER copyright © Maria Stepanova, 2021. Translation copyright © Sasha Dugdale, 2024. Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.