A red-haired devil I am
Crawling
Along the night streets of Kazan
After the night
Dissolute and wicked,
Looking into
The drivers’ faces
In the cars passing by.
They stare at me curiously,
Where and why
Is this weary woman dragging
In the hour when
The birds are sleeping.
One shouldn’t sleep at dawn
As a ground squirrel in its hole.
One should be a red-haired devil
Crawling
Along the night streets of Kazan.
I want and I need
To do a lot at dawn
But not sleeping.
But not sleeping.
But not sleeping.
Translated by Olga Karasik
Liliya Gazizova is a Russian poet of Tatar origin, a member of the International Pen Club (Pen-Moscow), and a professor of Russian literature at the Erciyes University (Kayseri, Turkey).