To Love, Not To Be Loved

It's late!
It's late, damn it!
I was late for so many things,
missed so many, squandered so many chances.

Old age came crashing through the door—
when, how, I couldn't say…
It slipped in quietly, imperceptibly, like a clever thief…

Too late now to set things right,
even my dreams couldn't catch themselves…
Yet I had to dream!
Had to make them real!
So I know why I'm going to die.
I had to…

I missed so many trains, so many places,
never found the time for—
thinking, searching, struggling,
falling, rising—
couldn't do it, never even learned to crawl!

It's late, I never flew to so many places in this life…
missed fame,
turned my back even on pride,
waiting for that happy moment, that joy.

But thank God, I understood one thing—
In this life, the most important is to love!
And the rest?—the rest is just empty vanity!
To be loved…