научи меня жить [nauchi menya zhit'] [English translation]

Teach me how to leave, teach me how to do something;

My nights are numbered and my days are short like dreams.

And the thing that loves while I'm asleep and breathes on behalf of my body,

Is only a shadow on the hot sand near the lazy river...

Teach me how to choose between black and white,

How not to divide between you and myself the things that belong to others.

But give me the razor of thought - to stick it between a part and the whole,

And name a higher purpose for me, teach me how to live...

Give me paper wings: freedom and conscience.

Save me from the storm and keep me out of harm's way when the air is still.

And for the things that were and will be, so that I can finally have peace,

Give me a soul - a reflection of a star in a handful of water...

And everything that I bought and spent, is now ash; I don't regret anything

That happened knee-deep in lies or throat-deep in ennui.

Teach me anew, I don't know how to do anything.

All I have is a shadow on the hot sand

Near the lazy river.