Here are two poems of Akhmatova's. The first was an assignment for my translation class.
The other was done as an experiment in subtle tone differentiation.
I don’t need tedious epics,
or Romantic notions of death.
Poetry’s for misfits and punks.
If only you knew what junk nurtures
an empty rhyme, invasive
as dandelions shot up along a fence,
or crabgrass patches.
An uproar, the stench of fresh tar,
black mold eating at the wall…
That’s a poem, passionate
and raw like you and me.
---
He loved three things truly:
white peacocks, evensong,
and faded maps of America.
He couldn’t stand crying kids,
tea with raspberry jam,
or inconsolable women.
And he married me.