“O Lord, to paradise admit
All of us, who sin and suffer!”
…The polisher with his big spoon
Stuffs his mouth with millet’
And fellows in the street
Sing to the accordeon;
And bitterly the comfort drips
On the souls of all who suffer;
And the boy, half-octopus,
Beneath his blanket shudders.
Moscow,
January 7, 1941
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Yesenin-Volpin
