A Tribute to Pripyat

To Pripyat - by Liubov Sirota

1.
We can neither expiate nor rectify
the mistakes and misery of that April.
The bowed shoulders of a conscience awakened
must bear the burden of torment for life.
It's impossible, believe me,
to overpower
or overhaul
our pain for the lost home.
Pain will endure in the beating hearts
stamped by the memory of fear.
There,
surrounded by prickly bitterness,
our puzzled town asks:
since it loves us
and forgives everything,
why was it abandoned forever?

2.
At night, of course, our town
though emptied forever, comes to life.
There, our dreams wander like clouds,
illuminate windows with moonlight.

There trees live by unwavering memories,
remember the touch of hands.
How bitter for them to know
there will be no one for their shade
to protect from the scorching heat!
At night their branches quietly rock
our inflamed dreams.
Stars thrust down
onto the pavement,
to stand guard until morning . . .
But the hour will pass . . .
Abandoned by dreams,
the orphaned houses
whose windows
have gone insane
will freeze and bid us farewell! . . .

3.
We've stood over our ashes;
now what do we take on our long journey?
The secret fear that wherever we go
we are superfluous?
The sense of loss
that revealed the essence
of a strange and sudden kinlessness,
showed that our calamity is not
shared by those who might, one day,
themselves face annihilation?
. . . We are doomed to be left behind by the flock
in the harshest of winters . . .
You, fly away!
But when you fly off
don't forget us, grounded in the field!
And no matter to what joyful faraway lands
your happy wings bear you,
may our charred wings
protect you from carelessness.

Translated from the Russian by Leonid Levin and Elisavietta Ritchie
More poems from Liubov Sirota

Pripyat before April 1986

Pripyat today

"Pripyat? Entah apa-apalah yang hasunah ni tulis? Tak pernah dengar pun?"

"Siapa Liubov Sirota ni?"

At first, ana juga begitu. Perkataan itu terlalu asing bagi ana. Nyata ana kurang tahu apa-apa perkara yang berada di luar bidang ana. Namun, seorang sahabat membuka mata ana mengenai Pripyat.

Pripyat, sebelumnya sebuah bandar yang sedang membangun, dalam sekelip mata menjadi bandar yang ditinggalkan. Sepi. Sunyi.

"It is hard for me to describe what I feel, when I come in a village with no people, but I will try- first is a feeling, like I got deaf. The silence is tremendous. No birds singing, no wind, nothing that can break this silence. Villages more picturesque then towns, houses and sheds do not look real. All look painted and I feel, like I walk inside of this painting." (Elena)

"Mula-mula datang tu saya rasa panas - akibat radiasi. Bunyi berdesing dalam telinga. Interaksi tindakbalas antara gegendang telinga yang statik,dan bendalir mukus dalam rongga salur antara telinga dan hidung. Sunyi tanpa tindakbalas tenaga bunyi." (Shin)

Pripyat - Sky view

Semuanya berubah sekelip mata setelah peristiwa itu. Untuk mengisahkannya di sini, terlalu panjang. Ana lebih suka antum mencari sendiri. Carilah di ruang maya, segalanya ada mengenai Pripyat di situ, atau kini lebih dikenali sebagai tragedi Chernobyl.

Selamat mengkaji.