As a child I once fell illFrom fear and hunger. I'd pic...

As a child I once fell ill

From fear and hunger. I'd pick

Hard skin from my lips, and lick them;

I still remember the cool, salty taste.

And all the time I'd walk and walk and walk,

Sit on the stairs in the hall to warm up,

Walk light-headed [As if led by the rat-catcher's pipe 

Towards the river, sit down

On the stairs to warm up; and shiver every which way.

And mother stands and beckons, she seems 

So close - but I can't reach her:

I start towards her then she's seven steps away,

Beckons me to come, I start again - and she's seven 

Steps away, and beckons me.]

                                        I felt too hot,

Undid my top buttong and lay down - 

Then trumpets blared out, lights beat

On my eyelids, [horses were galloping,]

Mother flying above the roadway, she beckoned me to come - 

And flew away...

                        And now I dream

Of a white hospital, and apple trees,

[A white sheet at my chin

A white doctor looking down at me

A white nurse standing at my feet,

Her wings stirring. And there they stayed.

But mother came and beckoned me to come - 

And flew away ...]

Arsenni Tarkovsky, 'As a child I once fell ill', as read in his son's Nostalghia. Omitted lines in square brackets.