.

      MY EUROPEAN POEM

       Julia Cimafiejeva

      This poem should be written in English.

      This poem should be written in German.

      This poem should be written in French,

      In Swedish, in Spanish, in my adorable Norwegian,

      Maybe in Finnish, Danish and Dutch.

      Baltic languages should decide for themselves.

      No Belarusian version for the poem,

      No Russian version for the poem,

      No Ukrainian version for the poem.

      The rest are at your choice.

      This poem should be written in the languages

      Of human rights organizations,

      Of those multiple expressed concerns

      by European politicians.

      So

      Shall I get used to the thought

      That I could be taken to prison

      By the men wearing black,

      By the men in plain clothes,

      By the men with four fat letters

      On their fat black backs?

      Otherwise, my country

      Won’t gain any freedom.

      And it could not work anyways,

      As usual.

      Shall I take it calmly that I

      Could be beaten and ultimately

      Found guilty for that because

      (They would say)

      I cried antistate slogans like “Freedom!”

      Or “Release all political prisoners!”

      Though I would not need to cry them out at all

      (Like my Facebook friends and thousands of

      Someone