Autumn - Pavlo Tychyna

Fungus grows on the cultures of the world.

Autumn. In the cities by four o'clock street

lights come on.

And in the village when the shepherd's

shadow stretches to ten feet

they drive the flock back home.

They say: you can buy old velvet,

somehow cover up the trash and plant culture

(only prop up its head!) -- and you'll see,

it will speak to us again.

But the leaves fell. And the head did not hold

on the shoulders.

Then -- they lunged into eclecticism. Took

some bricks

and just as much music. Thought it would alternate...

But the leaves fell. And the head did not hold

on the shoulders

 

Fungus grows on the cultures of the world.

​

Antistrophe

​

Adults and seven-year-olds sing: "There'll be

pie in the sky when you die."

​

Yes. The people are bringing in the harvest,

while the poets are in a ditch.

​

No use frowning at the simple song: the

prophet is always

less talented than the Messiah.

---

Pavlo Tychyna  (1891-1967) Ukraine

Translated by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps

Source: Yara Arts Group

From: In a Different Light: A Bilingual Anthology of Ukrainian Literature Translated into English by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps as Performed by Yara Arts Group, edited by Olha Luchuk. Lviv: Sribne Slovo, 2008.