Fan Art: Poems by Violina Bershadskaya

A collection of poems by the poetess Violina Bershadskaya, which she simply called “Dimash”, has been published in Canada and Kazakhstan. The collection is illustrated with the author’s own drawings, because Violina is an architect and artist as her main profession.

Poetess Biolina Bershadskaya was born in St. Petersburg. After graduating from the Moscow Architectural Institute, she worked in the design organizations of the city on the Neva. She is one of the authors of the Ladoga Lake memorial.

In a difficult period of life, she was inspired to write poetry and it became an integral part of her life. She wrote poems in Russia, Israel, and Canada. Since 2001, Violina has been living in Toronto, where her poems are often published in Russian-language publications. In the spring of 2018, she discovered Dimash. As the poet herself says, after that, her life was divided into “BEFORE” AND “AFTER”:

ДО И ПОСЛЕ

Задуматься заставила вдруг жизнь меня,
Распавшись в странности на ДО и ПОСЛЕ,
Что не в своём сезоне оказалась я,
Где царствует многоголосье.
Живу в приподнятости над собой,
Как будто вырвалась в простор свободы.
Восторг блаженства здесь со мной,
Лишь лихо забываю свои годы.

Всё также дни летят с ночами,
Но в явном мире дышит мир другой,
Хоть слышит пройденное за плечами
В усталом забытьи там где-то, не со мной.
И ритм дыханья в лёгкость обернулся
В волненьи удивительного дня,
Зов молодости вдруг души коснулся,
Раскрывшись в новом свете для меня.

И эти ДО И ПОСЛЕ спорят с явью,
Но ПОСЛЕ побеждает каждый раз
И с этим я себя и вас поздравлю –
Надежда жизни для таких всех нас.
С Димашем чистота, духовность,
Душевность, творчество, рай наслаждений
Многоголосья мастерством и скромность –
Жизнь наваждения и вдохновений!

(“BEFORE” AND “AFTER”

Suddenly life made me think,
Disintegration In strangeness into BEFORE AND AFTER
That I was not in my season,
Where polyphony reigns.
I live in an upliftment above myself,
As if I burst out into the open space of freedom.
Delight of bliss is here with me, I only dashingly forget my years.

All the same, days fly by with nights
But in an obvious world another world breathes,
Though he hears what has passed behind his shoulders
In tired oblivion, there is somewhere, not with me.
And the rhythm of breathing turned into lightness
In the excitement of an amazing day,
The call of youth suddenly touched the soul,
Opening in a new light for me.

And these BEFORE AND AFTER argue with reality,
But AFTER wins every time
And with this I congratulate myself and you –
Hope of life for all of us.
With Dimash, purity, spirituality,
Sincerity, creativity, a paradise of pleasures Polyphony, skill and modesty –
A life of glamor and inspiration!)

Dimash’s songs became a creative catalyst for Violina:

ПАРУС ВДОХНОВЕНИЙ

Мой парус вдохновений
С упрямою волной
Не ждёт благих течений,
Он здесь всегда со мной
Беспечно рвётся в дали
К неведомым мечтам,
Что временем призвали
В слова спешить словам,
Порывов смелость мерить
И этой страстью жить,
Самозабвенно верить
В приподнятость творить.

(SAIL OF INSPIRATION

My sail of inspiration
With a stubborn wave
Does not wait for good currents,
He is always here with me
Carelessly torn into the distance
To unknown dreams,
What time has called In words to rush to words,
Impulses to measure courage
And to live with this passion,
To selflessly believe In elation to create.)

“I am sometimes asked; how does it work – to write poetry – and I honestly admit that someone is definitely driving my hand with a pen when suddenly some exciting topic comes to my mind. I do not like to write on custom-made topics, although this also works out, but it does not bring such joy as true inspiration, which has become my vital need. And now I want to add – it amazes me; that now, at 84 years old, I am experiencing a happy period of life in this wonderful world of Dimash and I am absolutely sure that he prolongs my life,” Violina said.

МОЙ ВЕЧЕР

Мой вечер мне объятия раскрыл
И я вошла в весёлый шёпот листьев,
Что так не внятен в этой тайне истин –
В уютном мраке взгляд не тратит сил.
И ветер щедрый ласковостью нежной
Едва касаясь шёлковым крылом,
Как будто прячась за знакомый дом,
Меняется в характере небрежно.

Я так теперь одна в негаданном пространстве,
Лишь мысли, как подружки в суете
Вольны купаться в несказанной мгле,
Пока от них не нужно постоянства.
Приятный вечер, тишина, покой ночной
И ветви, будто тянутся ко мне в объятья.
Но не смогу их трепета принять я,
Хоть так уютно вместе под луной…

И россыпь звёзд – наряд теперь небесный,
Украшенный туманностью свеченья –
Ночная прелесть, радость увлеченья
В недосягаемости вечности чудесной!
Но вот Фонарь, как пёс сторожевой.
Он непомерный мрак пронзает светом,
Необходимом вдруг в пространстве этом,
Чтоб осветить мне добрый путь домой.

(My evening

My evening opened its arms to me
And I entered the cheerful
Whisper of leaves,
That is so incomprehensible in this secret of truths
– In the cozy darkness, the look does not waste energy.
And the wind, generous with tenderness,
Barely touching with a silk wing,
As if hiding behind a familiar home‚
Changes in character carelessly.

I am so alone now in an unforeseen space,
Only thoughts, like girlfriends in the hustle and bustle
Are free to swim in the unspeakable darkness,
Until they need constancy.
Pleasant evening, silence, peace of the night
And the branches, as if reaching out to me with their arms.
But I cannot accept their trepidation,
Though it is so cozy together under the moon…

And a scattering of stars – the outfit is now heavenly,
Decorated with a nebula of glow –
Night delight, the joy of passion In the inaccessibility of wonderful eternity!
But here is the Lantern, like a watchdog.
He pierces the immense darkness with light,
Necessary suddenly in this space,
To illuminate my good way home.)