Elizaveta Friesem
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          • Suggested citation format
          • Synesthesia
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          • The importance of having a purpose
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POEMS: Stranger

Picture
These are poems about being lost and out of place, about travelling or drifting away, about not-belonging. 
see all topics
***
​В лесу боюсь услышать я шептание ветвей.

Напоминает мне оно припев души моей.
Я в городах боюсь людей, боюсь их странных лиц.
У них жестокие глаза и клювы, как у птиц.
Скитаюсь по дорогам я, сплю в поле на траве.
Воспоминаний не храню в стеклянной голове.
***
In the forest, I am afraid to hear branches whispering.
The sound reminds me of my soul's refrain.
In cities, I am afraid of people, afraid of their strange faces.
Their eyes are cruel, and they have beaks just like birds.
I roam the roads, sleep in the field on the grass,
And don't keep memories in my glass head.​

Странник 

​1. 

Здесь каждую весну цветут каштаны,                       
Почти как там, откуда я пришел.                              
И этим зазеркальным сходством странным             

Меня здесь всё пугает: море, мол…           
                       

Свое «почти» есть у любой былинки.
На реквизит похож забытый зонт.
Упрямо упираются тропинки
В небрежно проведенный горизонт.

И голос моря стал ворчаньем нудным.
Ничто меня не радует уже.
А вечерами холодно и людно
В моей отцветшей навсегда душе.
​

2.
И однажды по дорогам сонным,   
Устланным осеннею листвой, 
Не надеясь больше быть прощенным, 
Я вернулся в старый город свой.                 
​                        

Там, блестя сквозь веки фонарями,                         
Выгибали улицы хребты.                                       
Город что-то прятал за дверями.                             
Чуть качались в пустоте мосты...       
                              

Мне так часто снился этот город...                           
Может, этот город – только сон?                              
​
Запахнусь, и подниму свой ворот,   
И ступлю на зыбкий небосклон.   
Wanderer 
​
1. <about>
Chestnuts bloom here every spring,
​Almost like where I came* from.
This strange looking-glass resemblance
Scares me in everything here: the sea, the pier...

Every blade of grass has its own "almost".
A forgotten umbrella looks like a prop.
Little paths stubbornly dead-end
Into the sloppily drawn horizon.

The voice of the sea has turned into tiresome nagging.
Nothing makes me happy anymore.
And in the evening, it is cold and crowded
In my soul, which will never bloom again.

2. <about>
So one day, following sleepy roads
Covered with autumn leaves,
Without any hope of ever being forgiven,
I came back to my old city.

There, with street lights gleaming through their eyelids,
Avenues were arching their backs.
The city was hiding something behind the closed doors.
Bridges were swaying lightly in the emptiness...

I have seen this city so often in my dreams...
Perhaps this city is just a dream?
I will wrap my coat tighter around me, and pop my collar,
And step onto the unsteady sky.
​
*In both poems above, the narrator is male. This is evident only in Russian, where past tense verbs are gendered.

***
На картах мира больше нет
Страны с лиловыми лесами,
Где звёзд касались мы руками
И небо пело нам в ответ.

Исчезли брызги городов,
Сплетенья рек, озёр лоскутья,
Дорог железных перепутья,
Морские входы для судов...

Осталось лишь мерцанье грёз
Да лабиринт воспоминаний,
Где бродят тени без названий
Среди заснеженных берёз.

31 января, 2021
To be translated...

***
Заблудившись на снежной равнине,
Облаков оглушённые ватой,
Тихо ждём, когда солнце остынет
И закроет ладони заката.

Кто мы: странники или изгои?
Завернувшись в звериные шубы,
Тихо ждём, когда ветер завоет
И, смеясь, поцелует нас в губы.

Нам кострами не велено греться,
И нельзя добиваться ответов.
Тихо ждём, когда вещее сердце
Нас спасёт обещанием лета...
​

24 января, 2021

To be translated...

​Гордыня (Arrogance)

1.

Мы чужие в этом мире,
Нас боятся, ненавидят,
И потому мы прячем
Наши радужные крылья.
Как открыть красу незрячим?
Мы со всеми не умеем
Вместе плакать и смеяться.
Нас, изгоев, сторонятся
И не знают, что владеем

Удивительным богатством.

2.

Видеть чёрно-белым мир
Безопасно для ума.
Лучше вырвать струны лир,
Узаконить сон без сна.
Если кто-нибудь в стихах
Описать рискнёт закат -
Будет в смуте виноват.
Для таких у нас тюрьма.


3.
Не надо людям верить.
Запри покрепче двери
Своей больной души.
Будь лучше датским принцем,
Но дружбой со зверинцем,
Мой милый, не греши.


4.
- Может быть, ты боишься?
Не можешь как люди жить?
- Мне предлагаешь сменить
Мой голос звонкий и чистый
На право слиться с толпой?
Русалочий хвост – на ноги?

Такой не найти дороги,
Где я не буду чужой.
To be translated...

​Песня Белого Волка  
​
​Обжигающий снег моей шкуры –
Холод пламени в ваших глазах.
Все вы буры, беззубы и буры,
Но зубаст ваш зияющий страх.

Я пою её лик белокожий,
И она льёт мне с неба любовь.
Вы её ненавидите тоже:
Чёрной кровью – кипящую кровь.

Обхожу ваше псиное стадо,
Но люблю вас, как любят дитя.
Вашей жалости волку не надо
И проклятья его не смутят.

Все мы – вечного целого части,
Мы – на смелость бессмыслья намёк.
Да, я жалок, убог и несчастен,
Но весь мир – мой блестящий зрачок.
White Wolf's Song <about>

Burning snow of my fur -
Freezing flame in your eyes.
All of you are brown, toothless and brown,
But your gaping fear has sharp teeth.

I sing songs to her pale face,
And she pours love to me from the sky.
You hate her as much as you hate me - 
Hate the boiling blood with your black blood.

I bypass your dog herd,
But I love you the way one loves a child.
I don't need your pity, 
And I am not disturbed by curses.

We all are parts of one eternal whole,
Hinting at the courage of nonsense.
Yes, I am pathetic, miserable, and squalid,
But the universe is the shiny pupil of my eye.

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    • About
    • Books
      • Media is us >
        • Principles of communication
        • Micro- and macropower
        • ACE model
        • Description of chapters
        • When conflicts get out of control
      • Hypertexts >
        • Me, looking for meaning >
          • A >
            • Am I strong or am I weak?
          • B >
            • Binaries
            • Both sides
            • Bureaucracy
          • C >
            • Can I give myself credit for being empathetic?
            • Choice
            • Circumstances
            • Cognitive biases
            • Common sense
            • Communication
            • Content and form of this book
            • Coronavirus and me
            • Culture
            • Cycle of violence
          • D >
            • Depression
            • Do children ask themselves about the purpose of life?
            • Doing the right thing
          • E >
            • Emotional pain
            • Empathy
            • Empathy as a matter of self-preservation
            • Everybody has their struggles
            • Everybody is connected
            • Explain/excuse conflation
          • F >
            • Feelings and emotions
            • Forgetting about your purpose
            • Free will
          • G >
            • Good vs. Bad
          • H >
            • How much do we understand each other?
            • Human brain
            • Human nature
            • Human needs
            • Human thinking
            • Human thinking is nonlinear
            • Hurt people hurt people
            • Hypertext books
          • I >
            • I am an optimist
            • Ideas
            • "I'll never understand!"
            • Individual meanings vs. shared meanings
            • Inner compass
            • Interpretation
            • "It is what it is"
          • J
          • K >
            • Knowing your true purpose
            • Knowledge
          • L >
            • Language
            • List of completed pages
            • Literal vs. nonliteral communication
          • M >
            • Make Sense
            • May I meet this, too, with kindness
            • Meaning as importance
            • Mean and stupid
            • My Anxiety
            • Meaning
            • Meaningless
            • Meaning wars
            • Meaning of life
            • Meaning communities
            • Meanings perceived by animals
            • Meaning-seeking vs. meaning-making
            • Media
            • (Mis)understanding each other's needs
            • My perfectionism
            • My quest for meaning
          • N >
            • Norms
          • O >
            • Objectification
            • On being a scholar
            • On being a writer
            • On being right
          • P >
            • Paradox
            • Parenting
            • Privilege
            • Polarization
            • Postmodern worldview
            • Postmodern philosophy
            • Power
            • Power of the mind
            • Problem/solution binary
          • Q
          • R >
            • Reality
            • Rhizome in philosophy
          • S >
            • Science, religion and art
            • Self-awareness and empathy of higher order
            • Self-awareness
            • Self-empathy
            • Stories we tell
            • Society vs Individual
            • Subjectivity and objectivity
            • Suggested citation format
            • Synesthesia
          • T >
            • "The Death of the Author"
            • The importance of having a purpose
            • Truth
          • U >
            • Understanding ourselves
            • Us and them
          • V >
            • Verbal vs. nonverbal communication
            • Violence in the human nature
          • W >
            • What does it mean to "understand"?
            • What is a text?
            • What we can learn about ourselves from media
            • What is "natural"?
            • What's the point?
            • What will this project become?
            • Where do meanings come from?
            • Why am I trying to stay sane?
            • Why do people hurt each other?
            • Why is language so unhelpful?
            • Why do everyday objects make sense?
            • Why do misunderstandings happen?
          • X
          • Y
          • Z
        • Power of meanings // Meanings of power
    • Editing
      • Me as your editor
      • How I will help you
      • Pricing
      • Privacy policy
    • Blog
    • Workshops
      • Five (easy) steps to become media literate
      • Surviving the polarization vortex
      • Understanding yourself
      • Not enough
    • Learn more
      • Bio
      • Talks and interviews
      • Essays
      • My poetry >
        • Russian poems >
          • Stranger
          • Lonely heart
          • Fairy tales
          • Dreams and nightmares
          • Puzzles
          • Moon
          • Seasons
          • Muse
          • Art
          • Games
          • Sketches
          • Nonsense
        • English poems
      • Educational materials
    • Contact me