Fragment
In memoriam Marina Cvetajeva
and Gizella Hervay
I am the bright girl in the fairy tale
the girl who came out and who stayed inside
(with one foot on the devil's hairy tail)
I took a ride and couldn't ride
(I free my soul as if it were a bird)
I answered all your questions every word
I skinned the millstone skinned it bare
I fixed the pitcher patched the leak
I did what men would never dare
but turning spindles makes me weak
now lead me to your land of endless nod
Hades my god
Translated by Peter Zollman