Tim Tibbitts

A Translation from the Russian of "Untitled (January 1917)" by Anna Ahkmatova 

Over the snow-encrusted bank         

We steal away to your white home—

Such a silent pair we make.   

Without a word, softly we go.

And sweeter to me than all the songs

That are sung: our waking dream, the brush

Of branches as we go along,

the faintest jangling of your spurs. 

Tim Tibbitts,  an oncology nurse at Cleveland Clinic, has written two novels, Echo Still and Playing Possum; a handful of libretti for short operas, one of which was brought to life in a full production at Kent State University in 2018; and dozens of articles. He lives with his wife in Cleveland, OH.  Tim would like to thank his French and Russian teacher, Sarah Kamkha, for help in understanding this poem.