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Poetry

Just Gone to Bed

By Dmitry Kuzmin
Translated from Russian by Julia Idlis

Just gone to bed
Oh well, not turning the light on
Barefoot
Jerking the shin back from the cold rim
And nothing
Something gripes inside and
However I strain doesn’t come
Remembered in horror M.P. telling how adenoma
they reach it with a cutter through the urethra
good gracious
to the bathroom not feeling the pain
hit the toes against the door jamb
okay okay
here’s a toothbrush with aero-
dynamic handle
squatting
push it furiously into the rear
up and down
read somewhere prostate massage helps
and when already unbearable
above the bowl
in a thin squirt
thank you god
thank you god
tiptoeing back
the sleeping-room is stuffy
and the boy hasn’t woken up

Copyright Dmitri Kuzmin. By arrangement with the author. Translation copyright 2010 by Julia Idlis. All rights reserved.

English

Just gone to bed
Oh well, not turning the light on
Barefoot
Jerking the shin back from the cold rim
And nothing
Something gripes inside and
However I strain doesn’t come
Remembered in horror M.P. telling how adenoma
they reach it with a cutter through the urethra
good gracious
to the bathroom not feeling the pain
hit the toes against the door jamb
okay okay
here’s a toothbrush with aero-
dynamic handle
squatting
push it furiously into the rear
up and down
read somewhere prostate massage helps
and when already unbearable
above the bowl
in a thin squirt
thank you god
thank you god
tiptoeing back
the sleeping-room is stuffy
and the boy hasn’t woken up

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