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# Whether by misfortune or by luck, the truth is simple: never go back to the places you once knew
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/po-neschastiu-ili-k-schastiu-istina-prosta-nikogda-ne-vozvrashchaisia-v-prezhnie-mesta/
- Published: 2025-10-22T09:19:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T09:14:29.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Art, Books, People

Whether by misfortune or by luck,  
The truth is simple:  
Never return  
To the former places.  
Even if the burnt-out site  
Looks quite decent,  
What we are looking for cannot be found,  
Neither by you nor by me.  
A journey backwards  
I would forbid,  
I ask you as a brother,  
Do not stir up the soul.  
Or else I will dash off along the trail,  
Who will bring me back?  
And in felt boots I will go away  
Into the year forty-five.  
In forty-five I will guess,  
There, where, my God,  
Mother will be young  
And father alive.

*Literal translation*

**Gennady Shpalikov**

*Illustration: Family in the Snow, Gerhard Richter, 1966*