Paraphrasing the well-known Pakhmutova’s song about the First world austronaut Y. Gagarin “Do you Know what Fellow he was?” I would say about my beloved brother Gennadiy. He was an excellent person, good-hearted, with the sense of humour and understanding of life. He was a good father, grandfather uncle. This month a dream about him came to me as if I were running everywhere in search of Gennadiy. I was trying as it was in our childhood, to save him from hardships and difficulties. I used to recollect how once when we were both in a pioneer camp one summer, the bunch of girls came up to me and said: “Go and rescue your bro, he stepped on the broken bottle glass, and blood was streaming out of his heel”. I jumped for help and saved him that time. I was two years older than him. I was responsible for my brother’s health and well-being, so our mother told us. The month of January on the eighteenth it was his birthday, and having celebrated his 70-th anniversary, ten days later he dies of heart attack/ So, January is a virgil candle lit up in our home. In the bright memory of Gennadiy. His photo is to the left and Gagarin’s song below.

These days also come to my mind the wonderful poem by Y. Evtushenko ” The Earth holds not Uninteresting People”
“This Earth holds not uninteresting souls.
Their fates akin planets history-
Each planet is unique on its own,
And no other bears semblance to its mystery.
And should someone unheeded thus lived –
With his obscurity amicable seemed –
Amongst the people he stood out, surround
in his imperceptibility shroud.
Each one is engrossed in their own secret world.
This world has the best of moments gold,
This world has the worst hour still to pass,
But all of this is yet unknown to us.
And should this person happen to die,
Then his first snow, long gone, would now him belie –
His first kiss? as well as his first battle –
Going away, all of this he’ll settle.
Yes, there will remain books and bridges,
And artists canvases, and widgets,
Yes, much is fated to remain,
But something anyhow will be lost in vain!
Thus, is the rule of a ruthless game –
Not people die, but worlds cease all the same.
We remember people, sinful and mundane,
But what did we know of them, again?
What do we know of brothers, or friends?
What do we know of our chosen ones in the end?
And our father, mother – those whose names we call,
Knowing all, we do not know anything at all.
People leave… There isn’t a way to bring them back.
Their secret words won’t be revived, alack.
And each time I want to scream against
This irreversible and irretrievable event.”
Translated from Russian into English by BlackSea4ever 16/102021