Olga Zvereva
Translated by Yana Kane, edited by Bruce Esrig
As a child, I loved the terminology…
As a child, I loved the terminology
of Soviet botany—
“babies” was the word used for offset shoots on cactuses
and tulips.
Tear away the baby, Papa used to say,
keep it in a cold, dark basement
until it sprouts.
Papa was very practical
when it came to tulips.
Mama didn’t have it in her to tear away.
Even while hiding in the basement, she would write:
Baby, everything’s fine,
it’s not cold down here, even
not that dark.
I’m a puny bulb.
My root is much too weak.
I tear away the baby,
hide it in the basement,
then, forget.
В детстве я любила термины…
В детстве я любила термины
советской ботаники –
как назывались детками отростки кактусов
и тюльпанов.
Оторви детку, говорил папа,
положи в холодный, темный подвал,
пока не прорастет.
Папа был очень практичен
в делах тюльпанов.
Мама не умела отрывать.
Даже прячась в подвале, писала:
Детка, все хорошо,
здесь не холодно, даже
почти не темно.
Я мелкая луковичка.
Мой корешок совсем слаб.
Я отрываю детку,
прячу в подвал,
забываю.
Yana Kane came to the United States as a refugee from the Soviet Union. She holds a BSE from Princeton University, a PhD in Statistics from Cornell University, and an MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in Literary Translation from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She won the 2024 RHINO Poetry Translation Prize, received an honorable mention in the 2024 Stephen Mitchell Prize competition, was a finalist for the 2025 Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation, had a translation included in the 2025 edition and three translations longlisted for the 2026 edition of Deep Vellum Best Literary Translations anthology. She is grateful to Bruce Esrig for editing her English-language texts.
Olga Zvereva (Ольга Зверева) Olga Zvereva is a poet from Kahrikv, Ukraine. She currently resides in the Netherlands. Zvereva is a sociolinguist by education and a technical writer by profession. She is the author of two poetry collections. She has been recognized with awards at both Ukrainian and international poetry festivals and has contributed to anthologies published in Ukraine, Russia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Israel, and the United States.