# I'm wandering through other people's minds

Ольга Слободкина

I'm wandering through other people's minds

as if their thoughts were trees with lots of branches.

Some catch me by my clothes, wouldn't let me go,

some go straight up

without love or hatred

or any other feeling -

just like that,

so nonchalant

and so unsympathetic.


I love them most, however,

for there are

still others

dried up by

my negligence or pride...

They look so helpless...


I cannot water them

or take them back to life

for they will thirst for further care and time,

which I can't give them

for I must be gone

to Where I'm needed most

and most desired.


They should've never known my warmth or breath,

would've been growing in their different ways

in blissful unawareness of my spirits.


So, I can only pray...

These dried up trees

will be like broken branches of my mind,

regardless of the years I'll have lived.


Forgive me,

the Great Gardener of Life...


Oct. 21, 1990