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# God, how I long to live!..
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/bozhe-kak-khochetsia-zhit/
- Published: 2026-02-13T06:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T09:12:37.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, People

God, how I long to live!.. Even as a little mouse  
I would live out my days and sprinkle my burrow with tears  
And, in rapture, tear open the little shirt on my chest,  
And carefully chew a last year's crust.

*Literal translation*

God, how I long to live, even as a wretched little insect!  
Perhaps the forgotten sun is called a little insect?  
The insect has no shirt, its soul is thrown wide open,  
The sun is burning, and the insect settles upon the sun.

*Literal translation*

God, do not make me an insect, make me a midge!  
How freely a midge would fly in the open space!  
Let me walk about the world a little longer still,  
Let me walk about the world for just the smallest while.

*Literal translation*

God, when no longer a midge, then a little flea, an aphid,  
I want to touch your world, barely audibly,  
So as never to part with my native earth,  
Never to part with my green home...

*Literal translation*

**Veniamin Blazhenny, May 1972**