- translation from Russian by Yana Kane, edited by Bruce Esrig
- russian text: https://kopilkapoetry.org/?p=713
this is my mother tongue
not granny’s yiddish
not my kids’ hebrew
that’s how things turned out
no one to blame
no need for excuses
the russian tongue doesn’t belong to anyone
not stalin not putin
not turgenev not the russian nation
the german tongue doesn’t belong to anyone
not hitler not paul celan
the english tongue doesn’t belong to anyone
not ezra pound not nelson mandela
a tongue belongs to whoever’s speaking
leave the russian tongue in peace
at least if you aren’t under bombardment
aren’t burying your loved ones in playground sandboxes
those who are have the right of pain
and also the right to write speak think
in the russian tongue
or in any other.
Olga Agour
Born in Russia, lived in Baku, moved to Israel in 1990. Author of two poetry collections in Russian, one in Hebrew and a book of translations from Hebrew into Russian of the Israeli poet Yona Volakh. Member of the Writers' Union of Israel. Published in many periodicals, print and online. Lives in Haifa. Psychotherapist.
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