Do not cry for me, Mother, seeing me in the grave.

I

This greatest hour was hallowed and thandered
By angel’s choirs; fire melted sky.
He asked his Father:”Why am I abandoned…?”
And told his Mother: “Mother, do not cry…”

II

Magdalena struggled, cried and moaned.
Peter sank into the stone trance…
Only there, where Mother stood alone,
None has dared cast a single glance.

~Anna Akhmatova
Translated by Tanya Karshtedt