A Girl was Singing
A girl was singing in the choir with fervour of all who have known exile and distress, of all the vessels that have left the harbour, of all who have forgotten happiness.
Her voice soared up to the dome. Glistening, a sunbeam brushed her shoulder in its flight, and from the darkness all were listening to the white dress singing in the beam of light.
It seemed to everyone that happiness would come back, that the vessels all were safe, that those who had known exile and distress had rediscovered a radiant life.
The voice was beautiful, the sunbeam slender, but up by the holy gates, under the dome, a boy who knew secrets wept to remember that none of them would ever come home.
Translated from the Russian of Alexander Blob by Jon Stallworthy and Peter France.
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