Fr Pavel Adelgeim: verses

1970

[labour camp]

Behind the fences,
Behind the locks,
Behind angry dogs flocks
Buried,
Lepors,
To the bones, to the soul naked,
We are dragging
Days and nights
Like chains. There is no strength,
No gleam in the sky
Neither hello nor good by.
No death. No life.




2008

I thank You Lord
For Your sacrificial love
For the marks of whips on Your skin
For Your blood poured out on the cross.
Those days, without regrets,
With crooked mocking smiles
The priests were gloating over:
"If you are God then
Come down from the cross!"
Without regrets about the earthly gifts
And believing Your promise
The holy martyrs and poets
Have rejected the fear of death
And were burnt at the stake
So that Your name
Would glow with undying light
Forever and ever.
Fallen into embrace
Of the double-faced empire
Bathing in golden light
(Like in an undeserved glory)
Reflected by their priestly robes,
Again believing nothing
But knowing what they are doing
Your priests are now executing
Those who love You, in Your name.
One cannot recognize the face of God
Avoiding the cross and the prison,
So should we really be amazed
That they don't want to recognize you?
They need the lentil soup
Immeasurably more than Your grace.
Give them, Lord, to gorge it to the end.



2009

It seems to me that there is no point
To stand by truth when one is judged.
The mesage is the same:
"Live as the state dictates,
If not - then law will not protect."
There is no light of truth in place of judgment
The lamp is dim; the aims and reasons all mixed up
The lighthouse of hope is now switching off
And fills the consciousness with opaque darkness.
In fruitless search for the path
You'll stumble, break your legs
And you will realize with great surprise
That no one needs you.
But don't be sad, calm down your woe:
You are not alone -
God needs you.