For our joy - Osip Mandelstam

[Larry Robinson]

For our joy take from my palms
a bit of sunlight and a bit of honey,
as Persephone's bees would have us do.

You can't unmoor a boat free floating,
nor hear a shadow whispering in its furs,
nor overcome the fear that burrows into life.

All that is left for us is kisses,
the downy ones like little bees
that perish once they've left the hive.

They rustle in the crystal labyrinth of night,
their home it is the dense forest of Taigetos,
their sustenance is cowslip, mint, and thyme.

Accept then my wild gift of joy,
this simple necklace made from withered bees
that died while turning honey into sunlight.

	- Osip Mandelstam
	(translated by Marina Romani)