FROM THE POETRY TZAR:
The Great Leader to the People of Leaderonia
on the Eve of the Great Separation
Wait for me, and I will return.
Only truly wait.
Wait while bringing sorrow
The autumn rains come late.
Wait while snow is blowing,
Wait while heat burns haze,
Wait while others cease to wait,
Forgetting yesterdays.
Wait when letters cease to come
From places far away,
Wait, while others tire of waiting
Together day after day.
Wait for me, and I will return.
Wish no good to those you've met
Who tell you, without thinking,
That it is time to forget.
Let my son and mother believe
That I have met my doom,
Let my friends all quit their hopes,
In the fire-lit gloom
Let them drink their bitter wine,
In memoriam...
Wait. Oh, do not hasten
To sit and drink with them.
Wait for me, and I will return,
Despite all death can do.
Let those who didn't wait for me
Say "Just lucky he came through."
Those who didn't wait can't know
How, while battle blazed,
Just by waiting for your own
Me you truly saved.
We will know how I survived
Only just us two:
Simply, you knew how to wait
As no one else could do.
Wait for me, and I will return,
Despite all death can do.
Let those who didn't wait for me
Say "Just lucky he came through."
Those who didn't wait can't know
How, while battle blazed,
Just by waiting for your own
Me you truly saved.
We will know how I survived
Only just us two:
Simply, you knew how to wait
As no one else could do.