The third poem in Three Hundred Poems by Lina Kostenko, page 8. Originally untitled.
Очима ти сказав мені
Ліна Костенко
Очима ти сказав мені: люьлю.
Душа складала свій тяжкий екзамен.
Мов тихий дзвін гірьского кришталю,
Несказане лишилось несказанним.
Життя ішло, минуло той перон.
Гукала тиша рупором вокзальним.
Багато слів написано пером.
Несказане лишилось несказанним.
Світали ночі, вечоріли дні,
Не раз хитнула доля терезами.
Слова, як сонце сходили в мені,
Несказане лишилось несказанним.
With Your Eyes You Said
Lina Kostenko
“Beloved.” With your eyes you said the word.
Within our souls a struggle had awoken.
And like the ring of crystal hardly heard,
the things we didn’t say were left unspoken.
The train of life sped on beyond back then.
The silence screeched like brakes unduly broken.
So many words were scribbled down in pen.
The things we didn’t say were left unspoken.
Night turned to day, and day turned into night.
Fate wobbled on the scales with every token.
The words rose like the sun in me, so bright —
The things we didn’t say were left unspoken.