Contemplations on board flight Moscow Vladivostok

(Перевела свои же «Размышления на борту рейса Москва—Владивосток»)

Patriotism’s a word; the scenery, though, is real.
During the forced suspension of a flight,
Th’ enormity of space one gets to feel
Beneath the plane’s light shadow, in delight.

30k feet under the airborne keel
Have made me philosophical. Although
It might well be the vodka or the feel
Of miles. Or thoughts that come and go.

To this sweet land go my allegiance pledges,
Where one is sure to suffer from jet lag,
Crossing the seven seas, whereas the flag
Remains the same. (The starting point being far from edges).

And if we were to take a different heading
We would be overflying the Atlantic
With its abyssal depths giving us frantic
Anxiety attacks. But what unfolds

Below is the taiga. We’ve been attracted
So long to false ideas that distracted
Us from our true identity. We acted
As if our daily issues were the world.

Some of us are still lured by those ideas
But, after all, indeed, that is their right.
But I am bound to where the dawn will see us,
Blessing us with its rays. We’re heading right.