1
Let us go where there are varied crafts
And trades — shashlik and chebureki,
Where trousers on a sign give us
The idea of a man.
A man’s frock coat: headless aspiration,
The barber’s flying fiddle, a mesmerizing iron,
The appearance of heavenly washer-women —
The smile of heaviness.
2
Here, the girls, their bangs aging,
Contemplate the strange attire,
Admirals in stiff three-cornered hats
Bring Scheherezade’s dream to mind.
The distance is transparent. A few grapes.
A fresh wind ever blowing.
Not far from Smyrna and Baghdad,
But difficult to sail,
And the stars are everywhere the same.
(Osip Emilevich Mandelstam)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, Mind Poems, Smiling Poems, Sign & Symbol Poems, Contemplation Poems, Idea Poems, Appearances Poems, Old Age PoemsBased on Keywords: trades, crafts, admirals, smyrna, three-cornered, baghdad, mesmerizing, scheherezade, washer-women