(for the poet Viktor Sosnora
Nevsky Prospekt )

The Czar Peter opened up a window on Europe
From where the bankrupt poets of the future saw
A mysterious navy well-armed with battle-ready poetics
Advancing on Russia.
I, a Marathi poet, walk on Nevsky Prospekt
Looking at the grand buildings on either side,
Realising that these monuments had no poet in mind.

[Translated from Shesha: Selected Marathi Poems]

Dilip Chitre

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/leningrad-sans-mandelstam-april-1980/