Passion Opera

Poetry by Lina Kostenko

SCENE 1

All the trees have loved me since my childhood,

And the elderberry god understands me,

Why willow, made of crystal drops,

Said "Hello!" to me through the mist.

Why do the woods await me again,

Raising the sun and stars on their shield?

I love them, I know their language.

I also speak to them in silence.

___

There is no one to say:

"I love you"

There is no one to say:

"Come to me."

I bypass everyone

or confuse the tracks,

As for whom the mist falls,

I won't lead them to the light.

If someone has not enough happiness,

It's not me who can give it from myself.

Good days, happy awakenings.

Unexpected joy, not for me.

And all because you still,

Standing sadly on the side.

SCENE 2

The night hung a yellow lantern over the fields.

The stars, like snowflakes, fall slantwise down.

They illuminate our faces, rustle beneath our feet,

And burn a patch made of snowflakes in the field.

Don't you know why It suddenly became so beautiful?

Yesterday it was not like this…

And never, never has it been like this before…

Maybe it's just because today, for the first time,

we see snow and stars burning on the ground above our heads.

SCENE 3

Oh stop me and come to your senses,

Such love happens once in a lifetime,

It will rush over the shattered life,

And horizons will chase after it.

It will shatter our peace to the core,

And all words will burn with its lips.

Oh stop me, Stop me and calm me down.

While I can still think for the last time,

While I still can, or I can't anymore...

It's my turn to see the dawn

Whether next to you my soul will freeze,

Or next to you I will burn with fire

___

Don’t speak with sad eyes

What words cannot express...

This is how endless tenderness arises,

This is how stormy silence arises.

Are you my dream,

Are you my imagination,

Is it just a dark magic of the mind?

What rainbow was shining above us,

What rainbow was shining above us,

What a chasm has opened up between us!

I won't say it, not even in my memory, my love,

But someday, remember me.

Two destinies were following different paths,

At the crossroads of fate, they embraced.

Are you my dream,

Are you my imagination,

Is it just a dark magic of the mind?

What rainbow was shining above us,

What rainbow was shining above us,

What a chasm has opened up between us!

Don’t speak with sad eyes

What words cannot express...

This is how endless tenderness arises,

This is how stormy silence arises.

SCENE 4

And how can I forget you?

My soul is weary.

Such a strange poison

I have never tried before.

Such pure sadness,

Such a thirsty thirst,

Such a cry in silence,

Such a glow all around.

Such starry silence,

Such immensity in the age!..

These may not even be poems,

But the flowers thrown to you.

SCENE 5

We who mystically represent the Cherubim,

And who sing to the Life-Giving Trinity the thrice-holy hymn,

Let us now lay aside all earthly cares.

Alleluia.

___

The evening sun, thank you for this day!

The evening sun, thank you for the weariness,

For that illuminated Eden beyond the woods.

And for the cornflower in the golden field.

For your dawn and for your zenith,

And for my scorching zeniths.

For the greenery that tomorrow wants to bring,

For yesterday, which managed to echo.

For the sky up high, for the children's laughter.

For what I can, and for what I must.

The evening sun, thank you for all,

Those who have not defiled their souls.

For the inspiration that awaits us tomorrow.

That somewhere in the world blood has not yet been shed.

The evening sun, thank you for this day.

For this need for words, like prayers.

___

Oh Mary, Mother of Redemption,

The Mother of Divine Love.

And the Source of Grace.

We love You!

Save us through the Unquenchable.

And the most Powerful Flame,

Of Love of Your Sorrowful, Innocent Heart,

Now and at the hour of our death.

And all patient souls in the Purgatory.

Amen!