- translation from Russian by Yana Kane, edited by Bruce Esrig
- russian text: https://kopilkapoetry.org/?p=755
History spirals like concertina wire,
History crawls like concertina wire
Marching like the war machine of infantry
It pushes forward the line of incursion.
History arrives at its turning points,
History reaches its raw pain points,
Wraps itself in torn guts and arteries,
Crushes the thin fingers that beg for mercy.
History pounces upon passers-by,
History maims without being choosy.
Jews, Germans, Americans — all are fair game—
Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians.
History will go away, leaving ruins,
History will go away, leaving graveyards,
Wild roses sprouting through rusting iron,
Dandelions poking out of rocket craters.
Someday people will come back here,
Build houses, start something growing—
Probably a new spiral of history,
Probably new pride in their nation
That again will twirl like concertina wire,
That again will crawl like concertina wire,
Returning to history’s usual chaos,
Returning to history’s eternal motion!
Alexey Karakovski
Born in Moscow in 1978. Studied first as a historian, then as a psychologist. Works in the field of website development and support. Guitarist, mandolin player, vocalist, songwriter - mainly on historical and geographical topics. Leader of the rock band "Proishestvie". Songs are recorded in Russian, English, Polish and German; some lyrics have also been translated into French, Spanish, Kazakh and Hebrew. Creator, and in 2000-2005 - editor-in-chief of "Tochka Zreniia". Author of a dozen books. Publications in literary magazines and art samizdat. Member of the Union of Writers of Moscow (since 2007), Moscow Union of Writers (since 2019).
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