BALLAD OF A SMALL MAN

by Robert Rozhdestvensky

​

On the Earth

ruthlessly small

there lived a man who was small.

He had a job that was small,

and he owned a very small bag.

​

He received a salary that was small…

And one day – 

one beautiful morning – 

a war knocked on his window,

a war that seemed

small…

​

He was given a gun that was small,

he was given boots that were small,

he was given a small helmet,

and a small—for his size—overcoat.

​

And when he fell, 

in an ugly and wrong way,

with his mouth skewed by a battle cry,

on the whole Earth 

there was not enough marble

to carve this guy

in life-size!