Album for the Young (and Old): Poems [Hardcover]

A new collection of the accessible and evocative micro-verse from one of Russia's most beloved poets.

Vera Pavlova'sIf There Is Something to Desiredelighted the poetry world a few years ago. Her poems, rarely longer than a few lines, thrill and puzzle us like Zen koans, considering matters philosophical, romantic, sexual, familial, artistic.Album for the Young (and Old),whose title poem takes its name and inspiration from Tchaikovsky’s music, carries us through a life in miniatures, drawing from a wide-ranging group of poems translated by the poet’s late husband, Steven Seymour. Here Pavlova returns to her childhood to peruse its key ingredients (“a glass jar, a rag, a sponge . . . Mom’s listening to the Beatles, / Dad, to Radio Liberty”), confronts adulthood (“And, please, no forbidden fruits!”), balances her loves and losses (“Without you, my unquenchable . . . woes are bearable, / joys are not”). Once again, this poet’s piquant short poems sum up worlds and take on heavyweight challenges, yet are light enough to carry with us.VERA PAVLOVAwas born in Moscow. She is the author of twenty collections of poetry, the librettos to five operas and four cantatas, and numerous essays on musicology. Her work has been translated into twenty-two languages. She is a best-selling poet in Russia and now makes her home in Toronto.

Translated by Steven SeymourUS