You Walk Along These Streets (Poem in Russian with English Translation)

*This poem was shared in Newsletter #14. You can find my other video poems here. If you like my work, please consider subscribing below.

This is one of my older Russian poems, featured in a video where I read the original aloud, with English subtitles providing the translation.

The poem captures a quiet sense of longing and emotional distance between two people who walk the same streets but remain out of step. Using urban imagery and gentle personification, it reflects on the feeling of being unnoticed and the tender wish to be seen and cared for.

Text in English (translation):
You walk along these streets.
The walls of buildings recognize you.
You do not feel the gazes of their windows,
Yet they wait for you every day.
​
Through the blinding whiteness—blindly,
Through the coffee-like slush—when it's above freezing,
Under an umbrella—stepping on broken pieces of the sky,
I hurry, I hurry, I hurry.
​
I greet every little window,
But they are talking about you...
It stings a bit, and it makes me sad:
I wish someone looked after me like that!
​
The walls of buildings, silent and stern,
Pretend that they are not sad.
You walk along these streets.
And so do I. But always out of step.
​

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Text in Russian (original):
Ты проходишь по этим дорогам.
Стены зданий тебя узнают.
Ты не чувствуешь взглядов их окон,
А они каждый день тебя ждут.
​
По слепящему, белому—слепо,
По кофейному месиву—в плюс,
Под зонтом—по осколочкам неба
Тороплюсь, тороплюсь, тороплюсь.
​
Я здороваюсь с каждым окошком,
А они говорят о тебе…
И обидно, и грустно немножко:
Мне бы кто-нибудь в след так глядел!
​
Стены зданий в молчании строгом
Притворяются, что не грустят.
Ты проходишь по этим дорогам.
И я тоже. Но все невпопад.