If you are a bad child
in the eyes of your parents
they sigh
oh, what shall
become of you?
Others are harder, they scold
you and demand respect
for the authority
of faith and customs
They think you are a nihilist
because they don't understand you
and because you do understand
you cannot argue with them
But you try
to explain – no matter how nil
the rules are, there is one anyway:
do the others justice
“Nihilist” is a curse during the French Revolution (1789-1799)
“Otcy i deti” (“Fathers and children” / “Fathers and sons”, 1862, Ivan Turgenev)
Collection “Different times”
