EXPANSIVE POETRY ONLINE
A Journal of Contemporary Arts 

 

POEMS

by
 

STEVEN DUPLIJ

        NB:  Steven Duplij is the pen name for physicist Stepan Douplii


____________

 

ROWS

Years fly by.
There is less and less of the present.
The inferno of the basest emotions,
The rows of tear-stained faces
Of women loved and loathed,
Standing in loneliness
By the bedside.
Here is all your venom,
And again, it cannot be drunk to the
Dregs.
And the years, they cannot be returned.

        Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2012/06/30/6970
 


DRAWING

The Past jeers at the future,
Crosses are melted by smoke,
Meanings confess in the horrors’ ward,
Debt stiffs at the uttermost line.

Reiterating my prayer in dream,
I stroll along brightness’ outskirts again,
Drink trouble to draft the drawing
Of desperation on the heart-rending wall.

Generations are cut off by scalpel
Of volte-faces rotted through with guilt,
Haze’s drawing above a pseudo country
Is erased by calque of time.

Repainting despair into hatred,
I knead the moment on evil’s palette,
Cut to pieces crossroads of words
By treasons of those who knew
                            without grasping shoots.

Having changed to imprint non-personal
On the infinite’s arrow to null,
I set fire from the drawing to stars’ condor
And return to my bothering role...

       Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2012/01/17/10537

       Youtube declamation:
   https://dzen.ru/video/watch/6513231a2742217629f641a4
      Read by Olga Akhmetova, Russian poetess

 

WINDOW

Awakening... her alien bed...
I’m sick and drunk,
And full of mad
Emotions, feelings,
Memories...

My Lord! Forgive me –
Set me free
From ugly loneliness
And stone
Of bared reproach less
Than moan.

I saw Trance Window
To the dark –
Its wind was burying
Last soul’s mark...


     Written originally in English.

     Declamation by the author Steven Duplij:
     https://www.dropbox.com/s/ms379jr0wlv1bad/2012-08-12_Duplij-poem-Window-eng.mp4?dl=0

 

 

DOWNPOUR

Downpour – by the window,
Snow – inside me.
Selection of mine:
Let you – Sin.

Fire – to my back,
Sheaf – of betrayals.
Edge – near me,
Stop – of Naivety.

On my table, a list
Of mundane affairs,
Splash of ideas,
Sonnets that have been sung.

Downpour – by the window,
Snow – inside me...

    Written originally in English.

    Declamation by the author Steven Duplij:
 Duplij-poem-Downpour-eng.mp4


 

DIFFERENT PLANS

So, let you have—your different plans,
And I, like your previous ones, deceived,
Won't blame you, I won't guilt you for anything,
Almost—I understand.
And this, my evening, will be lonely,
The inexhaustible meeting
Gone to minus infinity:
Alone—I'll fall asleep.

My eyes are watery—and me enlightened,
The ceiling dreamless all night long,
While behind the concrete wall of heat—
They are singing and drinking.
Their disinhibited joy—
I'll take it back as a reward.
The blockade of non-feelings is over—
I love you...

          
             Edited by Mike Hewitt, Canterbury, UK

            Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2014/03/24/4198

            Youtube declamation:
            https://dzen.ru/video/watch/64d0ae9d709f3548285a04ce

            Read by Olga Akhmetova, Russian poetess

 

 

                   Return to Poems Menu

 

                    ____________
 

COAST OF TIME

Again I stare into the distance fervently— the coast of time.
Nothing warms me—just the wind in the night.
The unfolding of meaning is the release of a pseudo-burden.
Excellence melts: debts— are down and out.


Those who were allowed to hit—against all the rules,
In cries, the more meat, the more beautiful the palaces for them.
The land is cleaned with slaughterhouses, but the texts in hymns—are to those.
There are no writers for a long time — liars sow lies.

I wake up in a rage—my life is spent:
Ridiculous goals are scrapped—they have been gone for a long time.
Millions of souls are fooled by the empty,
Groveling before the strong, they lick the stiletto.

To the other coast of time then? Fall into a frenzy.
They dreamed upward zealously, fell down—into the abyss.
And now in our textbooks—there are only fake mummies.
Concealing the hesitations that burn the scab of aspirations.

         Edited by Mike Hewitt, Canterbury, UK
         Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2023/06/01/2295
         Youtube declamation:
                  https://youtube.com/watch?v=_3snH2AWf7g
                  Read by Olga Akhmetova, Russian poetess

WHY DID YOU GIVE BIRTH
                        T
O MY ENEMIES?

All repeats like a sleep:
Always naive, and quite in love.

Why do I sacrifice my fantasy?
To get another empty glass?

There is hope in my sick soul,
That feelings are fresh and there are no clichés,

That all heirs will prolong thee,
Becoming friends, they will incinerate the Satans.

Pity - life is more complicated, I waited for children-gods,
While those gave birth for me to raise enemies.

They hoped in vanity: an enemy to me, a friend to them.
But my genes don't rivet servants.

They will not remove from future generations traces
Of my sincere efforts, of love, not of enmity.

      Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2023/05/24/3532

INNER WORLDS

There are two worlds inside of us.
The world of pleasure and desire.
The world of the deep - holy and strange
Suddenly shook me in a cry.

Into it openness is not for everyone.
The bereft in the former flick through
Not-life, artificial success.
Having everything: the soul is empty.

Bottomless and futile bunch of reflections
To advise, how to comprehend that world.
The hidden meaning beyond humanity
Burns from within: a flight into madness.

     Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/06/30/2494

     Youtube declamation:
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxIOJWfCr8M
     Read by Olga Akhmetova, Russian poetess

 

BIRTHDAY

My birthday
Sadder,
Than the day of death.
Not all my "friends"
Will come—
To celebrate.

But when I die,
They will run fast and glad—
To play and bleat:
Those dozens
Failed
Liars.

            Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2023/03/06/2868
           
             Declamation by Alexander Vonogradskii:        
            
https://ivv5hpp.uni-muenster.de/u/douplii/poetry/smf-r/smf-r.htm
             Track 20

                                   NB:  Steven Duplij is the pen name for physicist Stepan Douplii

 

                   Return to Poems Menu

 

WHERE TO RUN?

The twenty-first century advises us to run
Wherever possible—just not to sit still.
And no one cares how much honor is worth
To accept the stupid advice of a fool — "burn your bridges".

Will moving only save you from the inside-zero?
Coordinated treason will not solve your soul's problems.
The beggar's clue — to get the pennies of fate,
To take comfort from "them", and with no effort...

But tons of pseudo-feelings do not caress.
The poems’ lines, likes, books, links to yourself
And loving by yourself don't help.
Crushing doubts of your nothingness,
Nor any word-play can dry up the swamp of ranting.

No justification by danger, children and fear—
For jumping into nothingness...
The globality of change will help us hear wisely and calmly
The simple truth: to not fulfill your life with emptiness,
To fly your worthy self over evil temptation's ash.

    Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2023/04/20/2769

     Youtube declamation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We7QOsZi_XE
     Read by Olga Akhmetova, Russian poetess
     

FLOWERS

Touching the flowers
Of neglectfulness
They sang
The meaning of revival
For lost purposes,
Motifs of the sincere
And weary Dream
Burnt down by the vital juice
As the echoes of the void
To wane in moan.
In one thrown in the immenseness
Of the icy lonely cage.
On hands and knees from tenderness
Poisoned centuries.
Give the inside scope to souls
To the illnesses of the conscience.
The verse covered with sadness
Is the tombstone-reproach
For them —
Which has been irradiated
By dreams.

        Declamation in English by Tatiana Kudryashova:
        https://www.dropbox.com/s/fcp7jd48k5006zl/flowers.mp3?dl=0
        Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/06/28/3045

 

TICKET

It is a pity. I won't see this and that,
I won't kiss this one, that one...
For the last verse
I won't spill my dreams.

No. I won't forget the parting
And I won't forgive those who shot.
In the evil of inappropriate excuses
I will not dissolve my soul.

I will scatter screaming, the window is open.
I will not spill trails of bytes.
I will not count the cages of outlived feelings.
To the return train?–The ticket is erased.

       Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/08/02/2769

 

FLOWERS OF DESTINY

Flowers of Anxiety
Of my wrong fate:
They will not destroy it —
Well, there is no other.

I will remain affectionate
To the enemies of my fate;
I will take them to my temple.
With their poison as medicine.

I'll make me sing a chorale
From my penultimate strength,
That the black-passionate light
Will consecrate my trail.

      Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/08/16/3396

 

MELTING

Melting into naiveté’s pores
In my yelling and stretched soul,
Being swaddled by questions,
Arguing with Heaven,
This relaxation of doubts
Is drugging me to infinite dreams’ precipice —
Please, write!

Painting the night with meanings
In a hundred fresh but morbid flowers.
Becoming covered with vileness,
I am holding my exaltation
In the manege
Of my helical pseudo-life,
Sewn in a slapdash manner
From the bits of Dream.

Flirting with the whip of Fancy’s Realm
By the ditch of mine, being outer from me,
And tired from insincerity,
Of the marks disfigured with Depth,
I praise the same face;
I forebode my scrap.

The cruelty of lying-prophets’ rules
Will prevent the pouring of itself
Into the abyss of them —
But only for a moment.
The thought will freeze with hope
That this is not the last,
The last of my verses...

       Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/07/20/3025

 

JUNGLE OF YEARS

Frozen for the night, delirium,
Unrestrained silence,
Emancipated sleep.

Burning the jungle of years,
Sad promises,
Oh, endless lump,
Calm down!

The last chord is sung —
The soul with the soul of a date
Shouts a groan —
Neck bracelet.

Having riddled with kisses,
Hope's evil platform —
Burn it!

The dumb founded
Howl of the wind —
The ossified
Layer of ash
I will accept,
I will squeeze —
I will fall asleep...
 

         Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/06/21/2755

 

COGNITION

Cognition is an eternal salvation
From instability, evil,
From pleasures and desires,
Which in life have no number.
Where do they lead? Thoughtlessly
Selling everything inside to them,
We paint our silence with a noisy life,
Not noticing the heart of emptiness.
Cognition - a smoky vision
On the slope of the past day,
The cure for snobbery, laziness...
How limited to understand
Their previous meanings —
Habits of slaves and roles
To revive the holy personality —
And not to put an end to it.

           Original Russian https://stihi.ru/2022/06/19/2927

 

TWO AUTUMNS

What to see out the window but leaves?
Yes, they turn yellow, die, fly.
Seeing off the autumn of life,
Does not bring back the spring.

Passion has cooled; the song has been sung.
Dance? To whom? What for?
The meaning of a joyful summer
Has sunk into oblivion — with nothing.

Will the Thread of Fate open the veil,
and how do you know?
I would get away from the groans
of the forest of vain dreams.

A moment drinks spring …

       Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/06/18/3156

 

 

                                          Return to Poems Menu

       ____________

 

 

TENDER IS THE NIGHT

Yes, I have said it all.
And I am sick
From repeating myself.
The hall is full
Of them, naive
Dazzling,
But not loving me.

I have waited for them,
I have lobbied them,
Dreamed about them,
Of giving myself up to the cry.

But no,
They do not need my light.
I glisten, grieving
For those that I have sung,
Rhyming their immutability.

So pity, I didn't have time
To repay his debts in full.

I will forget
Despair of
Hot bodies,
Cold words.
Fairy tales are erased.
Tender is the night.

Edited by Mike Hewitt (Canterbury, UK).
Original Russian
: https://stihi.ru/2022/12/24/1222

Read by Olga Akhmetova, Russian poetess:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzZXprmqewE



WAITING FOR POEMS


I'm waiting for your poems,
And you are—in everyday life.
I understand—
I don't moan.
All the shackles—
To the evil orbit?
I will caress you,
I will cling
To you
In prostration…

I'm waiting for love,
But you're talking on money.
Transfers—won't save you.
In your sins—your are alone:
The steps of Fate.
And aspirations?—
They will lie.

I'm waiting for you-
With no arguments.
Everything I raved about
Did not ever come true...
It wasn't possible to sharpen
Naivety’s facets
With a sense of bliss.

Laughing. Don't wait
For calls from there.
There is nobody,
Dreams—are not here.
Pastness is my friend
And the cold of a soul.
The high—forget it...
Life is like hubris…

Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/11/05/381
Declamation in Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-_lqzUeqrs
Read by Olga Akhmetova, Russian poetess

 


A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

City—is dead,
People—are drunk.
My soul—is sad.
Life—is junk.

Rain lost His tears.
Brain lost its mind.
Empty frontiers
Out of line.

Heart—as in false.
Goal—as in wrong.
Deep sense—in nulls.
God says, “Begone!”


 

 

                                          Return to Poems Menu

       ____________

 

THRONE

The air is clean,
I'm suffocating.
The table is full;
My soul is empty.

I plunge into the blank sheet.
Shouting, I rush,
Angry with my songs!
But another me I won't become.

The ghost of days,
Sprouting into old age,
Draws the Ninth circle
Toward me.

I'm waiting to
wash away what's left
Of the insignificant
Stones in the words.

The sword is thrown --
Before my fate.
The sighs of years
Are beyond counting.

Idleness,
A meeting's
Empty feast.
The throne is warm,
But I'm not here...

Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2014/01/28/5456

Youtube declamation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuF-jOvS2dk

Read by Olga Akhmetova, Russian poetess

 

 

DREAM

Break away from the passion of the book,
Turn away from the hustle and bustle -
I want you as real!
Become you,
        Become you.

Don't just live in the moment
Don't give up on your dreams
I feel in my heart that you're waiting
And I'm waiting
        and I'm waiting.

I'm waiting for your freedom

To start caressing life again
Because there is more
So much more
       So much more left for us.

Suppress your helpless moans
Don't neglect the veil
It's too costly, too costly.
Peace,
      Peace...

 

       Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/06/27/6862

 

 

LOVE STORY

What I gave her, she took,
Never let a word pass by,
Not half a word in a moan
From the beggar's mouth of her beloved.

But she brought the meaning back.
In her inner strokes,
She spun the old ones, all in a row.
To become Her, she did not try.

Yes, for a woman to receive a song
It matters little where it comes from.
She knows whom to betray:
Who pays, and with whom she'll be.

Well, pay with feeling, with yourself.
It is cruel naivete
To explain their pain through them,
Hoping for reciprocity.

No, I will not hold back with a dream
No tears or cries that I have sung in vain.
Hard to love, easily deceived.
There is no higher happiness to lose.

     Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/08/04/2329

 

DIVORCE

I will divorce myself into a shouting match,
But not for drama.
I'd overdo it with my fate --
A faded, rotting trail.

I'd overstay my welcome.
With strange meanings
Of untouchable, false years.

Wait!
Don't waste
Your delirium with "no."
Do not build a cathedral,
Sick with leukemia,
In my soul.

A star calling into the night,
I'll burn the prognosis.
I'll glue the roses -
With apology.

Daughter in one,
In the other naiveté.
Away!

    Original Russian: https://stihi.ru/2022/07/17/6315

 

                                          Return to Poems Menu

       ____________

 

 

 

WISHES

Night. I stopped wishing for desire ...
The computer crashes. I don't sleep again.
Having hated parting,
I don’t like to meet more often.

Should I dial a random number?
She will answer. And - will come.
Again - the usual feast
Rusting to a dot. Fleeting ...

Where to call?
Because I am here at home.
To kiss - in my own, native.
Their cries, caresses are familiar to me.
They don't get cold.

I'll cover the letters with formulas,
So as not to go crazy with them...
Choking on the illusions of life,
I'll forget past volumes…


       
Original Russian https://stihi.ru/2022/06/17/3600

 

                   Return to Poems Menu

 

                               Steven Duplij EPO Poems published prior to 2023