ILLUSTRATION BY SERGEY ADAMSKI. MIXED TECHNIQUE. 2021–2022.

SERGEY ADAMSKI

1.
… runaway rats built a float.
and so:

2.
free rats sail on a float.
sail into a void.
no longer can the cook poison them,
nor the cat lay them low.
happy rats
greet the sunrise with hope.
and so:

3.
from the various seas,
from all ships,
longboats and schooners –
the rats flow,
they flee without sparing their skins.
from battleships and liners,
from billionaire yachts –
they drift
having swallowed fairy tales about those regions,
where the best rats
have built their strongholds.
and so:

4.
glancing through the reports, the almighty god moaned:
he didn’t like rats.
or rather: he couldn’t tolerate them.
he remembered having vowed;
that he had made a covenant.
but rats – they don’t count.
they don’t count?
everybody nods – no!
does that mean – a flood?
everybody nods again – aye!
the teeming dullness must be destroyed by tide.
a flood – it’s an instrument.
a flood – it’s a means to an end.
a brilliant move indeed!
and so:

5.
refugee rats
built a fleet.
a space fleet …

SERGEY ADAMSKI

Translated from Russian into English and published with permission of the author. Sergey Adamski is a poet and artist who lives in Saint Petersburg. The original poem “Сбежавшие крысы” (Sbezhavshie krysy) was published on his social media page on January 2022. Adamski’s publications include the book Талантомер (Talantomer) (St. Petersburg 2020).