Маргарита Агашина - Горит на земле Волгограда

The following is a loose translation of a powerful and magnificent poem by Margarita Agashina, known by it's first lines "Burning on the ground of Volgograd"

The Eternal soldiers' flame burns forever in Volgograd
Eternal glory to those who - here - stopped
the fascism that had conquered half-the-globe.
All those harsh years of bloody battle
Men and women stood here to death -
Comrades and peers of your parents.
Here they stood to death!
Now from every corner of the globe
People come here to bow down to their courage
Be silent at their graves.
And let the people of the world see:
We remember and love those who died.
And let the people of the world know:
The Eternal Flame of Volgograd
Won’t droop until here,
on the blood-soaked land of Volgograd,
lives at least one little boy.
Remember these moments!
And if you face any hardships,
Or there’s a friend in need
Or an enemy is on the way,
Remember that you are not just a boy,
You are a Volgograd boy,
Son of a Stalingrad soldier,
A drop of his Immortality,
A spark of his Eternal flame.

April, 2003
Bloomington, IN