Thoughts of Mine

Translated by Gladys Evans

Thoughts of mine, thoughts of mine,
My one and only stay,
You at least do not abandon
Me these bitter days.
From the broad and distant Dnieper
Fly to me, my homing
Pigeons, on your blue-grey pinions,
Through the steppe go roaming
With the poor forsaken Kirghiz.
Long have they gone naked,
Long been paupers... yet still free to
Worship God as sacred.
Come then, dearest thoughts of mine,
I shall greet you ever
As my children, with soft words, and
We shall weep together.

                      1848, Kos-Aral