Graduated fromt he Literary Institute in Moscow and at present works as an editor for 'Panorama,' a literary magazine for translations. She is the author of two books of poems, 'The Line of Life,' and 'A New Moon |
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You are right as always, master. |
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(I dare to call you 'master' although the slant |
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of my handwriting |
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You are right, |
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I'm not a random set of molecules. |
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Yes, I have been proposed |
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for life on a reservation |
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where nature is protected (I am a woman—game, respectively). |
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but what would I do there |
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if I am not used to interjections? |
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The other things are not for me-” |
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like walking on a rope |
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or training mice and beasts of prey . . . |
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It raises too much dust, |
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and the first years of my life |
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I spent in mountain air. |
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Both my children still spell out 'life' |
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and to them the circus is an art, |
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I don't know what they think of courage: |
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to crack a whip or to jump through hoops of fire. |
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Experience will soon teach them |
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not to catch a knife by the blade. |
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Well, people are there |
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The fork is on the left, the knife is on the right. |
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But their mother is left-handed |
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and always does the opposite. |