Russian-American poet and actor Alex Galper was born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1971 and moved to America in 1990. He received BFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College in 1996.Currently, he works as a social worker for City of New York. As an actor, he recently appeared in HBO “Show Me A Hero”. Alex keeps writing in Russian. Translations of his poems and short stories have appeared in over 20 magazines worldwide. His work is mostly influenced by Russian OBERIU poets and Charles Bukowski.
The Poet Who Was Almost Eaten by a Lion
Poets die in different ways.
Some die in their bed at 90.
Some hang themselves, or shoot themselves,
or drink themselves to death.
Some run away and die in wars.
How predictable and boring!
As for me, I could have been eaten by a lion
in downtown Tbilisi.
I would have immediately become world-famous.
My books would have been translated into every language
in the world.
But I reeked so badly of vodka,
the lion shook his mane and kept walking.
I started crying. Because of my alcoholism,
I will die in complete obscurity.
Translated by Anton Yakovlev