У каких ворот [U kakih vorot] [English translation]

1

The locks of which gates will unlock?

Which unoiled hinges will creak?

They will return me freedom following someone's capricious will,

I'll remember this moment forever.

Night will cover a table like black cloth,

Foliage will wave at me with a soft fan,

And I'll see my five-year old daughter, slender as a young birch-tree,

I haven't noticed her growing.

I'll watch my mother opening the window,

For a long time I was only able to meet her in my dreams.

And I'll take a look at the sky,

It's wider seen from the other side2

Fresh wind will come from fields,

It used to be my friend when I was incarcerated behind that wall

It used to take me away for a walk

Saving me from long grey prison nights.

It used to take me along, it was beckoning to go towards freedom with it,

Passing the shadows on the watch towers3

It reduced my prison term and acquitted me,

It was asking me to go along, but I kept coming back 4.

It used to say goodbye to me, wishing we would meet soon,

However, it may happen to me as in that old saying,

He who was waited upon returned to those who weren't waiting for him.

But despite that, I don't despair and keep waiting.

The locks of which gates will unlock?

Which unoiled hinges will creak?

1. a prisoner's song2. of the prison gate3. i.e. prison guards standing on watch towers4. to the prison