Photo: D Bernard Henry Photography
My lovely friend Meredith read this poem at my wedding. Its sentiments move my heart and continue to inspire me….
No, I’ll not take the half…
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Translated by George Reavey
No, I’ll not take the half of anything!
Give me the whole sky! The far-flung earth!
Seas and rivers and mountain avalanches—
All these are mine! I’ll accept no less!
No, life, you cannot woo me with a part.
Let it be all or nothing! I can shoulder that!
I don’t want happiness by halves,
Nor is half of sorrow what I want.
Yet there’s a pillow I would share,
Where gently pressed against a cheek,
Like a helpless star, a falling star,
A ring glimmers on a finger of your hand.
Dr. Cynthia Chan 