"Why Is This Century Worse..."

Why is this century worse than those others?
Maybe, because, in sadness and alarm,
It only touched the blackest of the ulcers,
But couldn't heal it in its span of time.

Else, in the West, the earthly sun endows
The roofs of cities with the morning light,
But, here, the White already marks a house,
And calls for crows, and the crows fly.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, August, 2000
Edited by Dmitry Karshtedt, February, 2001