I am not a poet, and therefore my translation is imperfect. I was able to match Gazha's meter, but not his rhyming scheme. In the original, in each stanza, there is rhyme between lines one and three and lines two and four. Thus, in my translation, "smoke" and "deep" should actually be rhyming words, as should "estuary" and "pebbles."

This poem was originally published much earlier, but was included in the latest collection of Gazha's poetry. Gazha is a long-time resident of Anadyr' and worked many years for the local newspaper, Krainii Sever. For this collection of poetry, he was awarded the first poet laureate in a comptetion named for the famous Chukchi writer Iurii Rytkheu. Indeed, Chukotka thinks very highly of its literary tradition. The illustration above is by Iurii Rudenko.

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