At Night

by: Bella Akhmadulina (translated by Daniel Halpern with Albert Todd)

How can I call out? How can I shout?

In silence everything is fragile as glass.

Having laid its head on the reciever,

the telephone sleeps soundly.

I'll walk across the sleeping city

through a snowy side street.

I'll go up to your window,

quietly and tenderly.

I'll protect you from the street sounds

with the palms of my hands,

the streets ringing with drops of melting snow.

I'll put out the lamps to keep your eyes in sleep.

I'll command the spring to put the nightsounds in order.

So, what kind of person are you in sleep!

You arms have grown so weak

Fatigue is concealed in the wrinkles of your eyes--

tomorrow I'll kiss them so no trace remains.

I'll watch over your sleep till dawn,

then leave in the clean snowy morning,

forgetting about my tracks in the snow,

through the dry leaves of last autumn.