We sail off to a warm land for all time. Our long voyage was pre-planned to the nines. Wheel of fortune you must turn and be gone. How to deal with storms we’ve learned early on. Now it’s time to climb the mast, my friend, the demand for land’s tightened. Maybe there’s a continent ahead, maybe just a small island. Someone always keeps a plan by their side, and this someone seeks a land to reside. But the others - not a dime to their name - sailing off to work full time all the same. Laugh, for you have made your fate a nun - she will now remain silent. Someone has a continent to run, someone has a small Island. But my fortune is quite blind, nonetheless. Cards foretold that I would find a landmáss. Fortune-teller, you are weak with your signs. I’m determined now to seek minor isles. Here’s the misty shoreline, be prepared: slowly count up to a hundred. What is this, a continent ahead or is this my dream island?
© Kirill Tolmachev. Translation, 2023