Cranes

The Dagestani poet Rasul Gamzatov wrote the poem Cranes in Avar, the Russian translation is made by Nikolai Grebnev. The occasion was related to Gamzatov's trip to Japan and the story of a girl who fell ill after the Hiroshima bombings. According to an ancient belief, the creation of 1,000 origami in the form of cranes could make a dream come true. At the same time the birth of the poem was provoked by the Gamzatov's family drama, like the one of the millions of other families, victims of the Great Patriotic War. The crane is a symbol of the hope for life, an image of the dead soldier who flew away like a bird, of the dreams of the girl who recognized her favorite warriors flying like cranes in the sky. The text is inspiring JAN FRENKEL for the eponymous song.