A Russian poem

A couple of weeks ago my cousin from New York e-mailed me a poem in Russian.  The poem was pretty good and reflected the feelings of pretty much every emigrant from the former Soviet Union I knew: the old country, in the form of Obama administration, is catching up with us.  The poem was signed by someone named Alex Matlin of New Jersey.  Although I like the poem, I was disappointed that it was in Russian and, thus, I could not share it with my non-Russian-speaking friends.  So, I forwarded it to a bunch of my friends and suggested that they try translating the poem into English, if they were so inclined.  One of them, Diana from Los Angeles, took a first crack at it.  She sent me her version, and I improved on it the best I could.  Then I googled the authors name and came up with his web site and contact information.  I e-mailed Alex Matlin Diana's and mine translation attempt.  He tweaked it some more and sent it back to me along with permission to post it on my blog along with the picture of himself at the 9/12/09 rally in Washington, DC.  Here is that picture below, along with both Russian and English versions of the poem.  Note that if any of you, dear readers, decide to forward this poem to any of your friends, be sure to include the Russian version as well.  It does not matter that you or your friends might not be able to read Russian.  The fact that it was written in Russian originally makes it much more meaningful.

Russian:                                                    English:

Прощай, страна моя родная! Прощай, Америка! Вот-вот Над континентом засияет Социализма небосвод. От Сан-Диего до Детройта От Айдахо до Теннеси Мы наш, мы новый мир построим, Как на советской, на Руси. Долой капитализма рабство! Мы без сомнений и помех Перераспределим богатство, Чтоб было поровну у всех. Получат равные зарплаты Все дети солнечной страны. Не будет бедных и богатых, Бедны все будут, но равны. Мы к цели рвёмся неуклонно Уж наши чаянья близки, Уже построены в колонны Acorn'а славные полки. Звучит сигнал: вперёд, к надежде! Народ ликует: Yes, we can! И скромный ОН в простой одежде, Нас к горизонту перемен Ведёт. Раздумывать не нужно: ОН руку держит на руле. А мы протянем руку дружбы Венесуэле, Хезболе, Хамасу, Северной Корее, Ирану, Кубе – всем подряд. Мы извинимся, покраснеем, И нас, наверное, простят. Мы их накормим – всех, конечно, (Ведь больше нет у нас врагов), И будет нас любить сердечно Весь мир голодных и рабов. Не будет нам пути обратно, Мы, как один, пойдём вперёд. Мы будем всех лечить бесплатно, Чтоб здоровел у нас народ, Мы будем все любить друг друга, ЕГО, родного, – обожать. Мы запретим и нефть, и уголь, Планету чтоб не засорять. В своём стремлении упорном Убить капитализма зло Мы остановим global warming – Преступных бизнесов тепло. И будут дети повсеместно Стихами хором говорить, Родного лидера за детство Счастливое благодарить. Не станут поклоняться люди Неузаконенным богам. В особенном почёте будет ЕГО религия – ислам. Ни христианство, ни еврейство Не будут более в ходу. А ЦРУ, гнездо злодейства, Мы просто предадим суду. А следом – мы в победном звоне Врагов начнём крушить вразнос, Засевших тайно в Пентагоне И на TV, в канале Fox. Партийных разногласий раны Пройдут, как сон, сойдут, как снег, И все республиканцы станут, Социалистами навек. Все будут счастливы, до страсти Себя и ближнего любя. А если кто не будет счастлив – Пускай пеняет на себя. Темнеет небо, блещут звёзды Сковал мороз теченье рек. И бьёт озноб: неужто поздно Остановить безумства бег? Как мы ни прятались, опять нам Грозит социализма зверь. Всё так знакомо! Так понятно! Опять бежать? Куда теперь?

Good bye my dearest land of freedom! Good bye America! At last The shining star of Socialism Is quickly rising over us. From Florida to Oregon, From San Diego to Detroit We will build our very own, The Soviet style, brave new world. Good bye, the chains of Capitalism! Without doubts and regrets We’ll re-distribute country’s riches, So everyone gets equal share. And each, as country’s perfect cure, Will be receiving equal pay. There will be no rich and poor. We'll all be poor, but all the same. We will achieve our final aim, And our success is coming on. Already standing at attention Those brave soldiers of ACORN. We've got our signal: On, to Hope! The people shout: “Yes, we can!” And humble HE, in simple coat, Is leading us to hope and change. He is leading! No time to waver: HIS hand is firmly driving us. We will extend our hand of friendship To North Korea and Hamas. Iran, Venezuela, Cuba — They'll be our friends from now on. We will apologize profusely And be allowed to move on. We’ll feed them all, yes, everybody, We won't have enemies any more, And everyone will be our buddy, They all will love us evermore. No turning back! Move forward only! We won't be charging for health care, So our people will be healthy And fit and happy everywhere. We’ll fall in love with everybody, The dearest HIM we will adore. We will forbid both oil and coal – No polluting any more! We will achieve our noble goal To kill Capitalism's wrath. We will stop evil global warming That wicked business pushed on us. And our children everywhere Will sing together every day To praise and thank our dear leader For happy life, for joyful way. We will discourage all religions, Or maybe we'll allow some. Perhaps there will be one exception: The peaceful practice of Islam. The old Judeo-Christian values Will no longer hold their sway. And pretty soon we'll put on trial The evil folks of CIA. With our victorious devotion We'll stop our enemies' abuse. We'll crash all right-wing opponents In Pentagon and at Fox News. All the old quarrels of two parties Will disappear, like a bad dream, As all the members of both parties Embrace forever Socialism. With love and passion we’ll be happy, We’ll spread our love without shame. But those who will not be happy Will have only themselves to blame. The sky gets dark, the stars are shining, The rivers covered up with ice. And we are cold, confused, and frightened: Is madness overcoming us? We tried to run, to hide, but no: Again the beast of Socialism's near. For us it's all so well known. Where do we now run from here?

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