Слепым дождём рассыпалась гитара.
Ведёт собачку пожилая пара.
Вода стекает с лепестка.
Собачка рвётся с поводка.
У света длинное тело,
у тьмы короткие ножки.
Зелёненький крокодильчик –
июньский день на дорожке.
Жучки катались в лодках белых лилий.
языки влюблённых гнёзда вили.
И копошились два жучка:
как нелегко без языка!
Прохлада пива у истока лета
наложит вето на любые вето.
Аллея плещет, как река.
Собачка рвётся в облака.
У света длинное тело,
у тьмы короткие ножки.
Зелёненький крокодильчик –
июньский день на дорожке.
The week of rain transformed into sunny days. Throughout this week, playful June had demonstrated its entire collection of rain; from gloomy drizzles to pouring thunderstorms. Finally, the last drop fell, and nature relaxed, just like a person after running.
Most important, finally, Dennis is riding to the park! In his hands is a cup full with strawberries, deeply sprinkled with sugar. The boy slowly takes his spoon and pulls out the red hearts out of the sweet snow. He chews each heart for a long time, to make the pleasure last longer.
Dennis is in a perfect mood, and he notices that everything that he rides past is also very happy. The last puddles are drying on the sidewalk and if you look into the distance, the pavement looks like a spotted, thick-skinned animal. The windows of the trolleys shatter, blind from the sun. Wasps circle around the sweet strawberries, and Dennis always has to shoo them away. And the people! Children play tag on the park alleys. A girl in a green dress, running from a fat boy in shorts, trips and, “Bam!” falls onto a flower bush. Her mother hurries to her, instantly losing a purple slipper, and with one bare foot flies over to her daughter. “Lida, did you hurt yourself?” Lida whimpers and clings to her mom’s leg. The woman returns for her slipper, and the small girl, forgetting about her injury, runs to join the game again. Mother sits onto a bench and reads a book, gazing at Lida’s game.
A small African-American rides in front of Dennis on his tricycle. His father whispers something to him, and he returns and stops next to Dennis.
“ Here!” He gives Dennis a chocolate cookie.
“ Here!” Dennis gives the boy a spoon with a huge strawberry.
Both are happy with their trade. The African-American keeps riding, so does Dennis. Their parents’ glance at each other, and as Dennis looks back, he sees how the boy’s father shakes his head and sighs.
“ Do you want some ice cream?” Dennis’s mom asks.
“ I haven’t finished with my strawberries yet,” Dennis replies. “Let’s ride to the carousel!”
The parents reluctantly agree. Dennis and them never agree here; the boy loves to watch the people riding on the carousel, and for some reason mom and dad do not. But it’s very interesting; first all the horses, deer, and tigers, with a small child sitting on each one, start slowly revolving. Then, they gain speed, turning into strips like those you cut out of paper. In the end, they freeze, waiting for new people to get on. And at this moment there are unwilling tears on Dennis’s face. He doesn’t know why. It seems like someone is sitting in his eyes and wringing a damp cloth from water. Maybe it's because of this that his parents don’t like carousels.
“ Airplane! Airplane!” the children cry. All the children lean their heads back and look at the white pencil in the sky.
“ Look at the marks it leaves!”
“ Wow, so straight!”
“ It’s going to fade now!”
“ Oh, it faded. That's so sad.”
No matter how long you take to eat something good, it still ends. The last strawberry is eaten, and the blue cup with white dots dives into mom’s purse.
“ Now I can eat ice cream!” states Dennis.
The ice cream is strawberry; nothing else will do today. The taste of this berry will never be displeasing; the boy doesn’t like anything more than strawberries!
It’s time to go home. No one wants to ride away from the aroma of flowers, from the buzzing of rides, from the happy faces. Sometimes there are those days when you feel like there are no bad things in life.
You won’t believe what kind of dreams come to you at night after a stroll like this. Of course, strawberry dreams! They’re very silly! It seems like Dennis’s heart hops out and rolls down the sidewalk. Dennis gets up- and runs after it! And suddenly it turns into the girl in the green dress, and he plays tag. And then it turns into a tricycle and Dennis rides on it. Then, it turns into a deer on the carousel, and then; can you imagine it? It turns into a real airplane with soft seats and a strawberry cocktail.
In the morning, Dennis talks about his dreams with mom, and she doesn’t smile. It even seems that a few small tears sparkle in her eyes as she washes his wheelchair. Maybe, inside mom, someone has also wringed out some damp towels.