[NOTE: As I have done in previous years, I'm posting a nativity poem for the Christmas season. Enjoy!]
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Yuletide
by Valentin Berestov
Every year, when Christ is born,
beauty comes into the world.
January icicles
flood with light.
January ice-crust
holds your weight.
January snow grants you speed.
It glitters and blushes at noon,
it gleams in the half-light of the moon.
And every January day
outstretches its own yesterday.
And each night feels just the time
for feasting, revelry, and wine.
1985
Translated from the Russian by Jamie Olson
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Translator’s note: Russian Orthodox Christians, who follow the Julian calendar for all church holidays, celebrate Christmas on January 7, not December 25.
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