Leningrad 1985
(I wrote this piece recently. It describes a real encounter I had when, greatly daring, I ventured out of the centre of Leningrad by normal commuter train. In those days officialdom was suspicious of foreigners, but I hardly ever met anything but warmth from the ordinary people. I couldnt get out of my head the extent of the sufferings of the elderly, who had lived through so much - perhaps for nothing.)
Thats where I live, she said with pride,
pointing through the train window;
one-bedroom, with living space - forty square metres!
- she made it sound like a palace.
The concrete slab stood, defensive,
grimy and grey, just beyond the railway track.
(We were carrying the memory of
golden spires, many-coloured domes,
vast, classical piles along the embankment,
and the spacious rivers measured flow.)
I was born in a room with eight families -
quite big - it had to be - but imagine the noise,
the crowding, and the smell.
(We couldnt imagine. The smart
suburban train clicked along,
displayed to us the dreary suburbs.
Commuters dozed, or read,
or quietly talked, and glanced at us
with cryptic expressions.)
Im so proud of what weve achieved!
- but weve sacrificed so much.
The Revolution took my father and two uncles,
and my mother went from typhus;
I cant remember how many loved ones
perished during the siege ....
(She paused, and in the gap we looked down,
unable to meet her eyes,
fearing what shed say next.)
My husband; he was a soldier.
He died on the way to Berlin,
- like so many, so many;
after the war -
my two sons died as well -
and my only daughter disappeared ....
It was Gods will.....
(Another pause; their fates went unexplained.
I glanced shyly at her smart
well-cut raincoat, her well-groomed grey hair.)
Sacrifices! She sighed, but her hard eyes
did not fill with tears. A thin smile;
Things are better now; theyll be better still, - soon
(We looked straight into those eyes as the train
slowed, and she stood up to leave.
Her back was straight, determined.)
Tell your countrymen -
things are getting better all the time here,
- and one day theyll be better in the West.
davicletay 1/2004
(I wrote this piece recently. It describes a real encounter I had when, greatly daring, I ventured out of the centre of Leningrad by normal commuter train. In those days officialdom was suspicious of foreigners, but I hardly ever met anything but warmth from the ordinary people. I couldnt get out of my head the extent of the sufferings of the elderly, who had lived through so much - perhaps for nothing.)
Thats where I live, she said with pride,
pointing through the train window;
one-bedroom, with living space - forty square metres!
- she made it sound like a palace.
The concrete slab stood, defensive,
grimy and grey, just beyond the railway track.
(We were carrying the memory of
golden spires, many-coloured domes,
vast, classical piles along the embankment,
and the spacious rivers measured flow.)
I was born in a room with eight families -
quite big - it had to be - but imagine the noise,
the crowding, and the smell.
(We couldnt imagine. The smart
suburban train clicked along,
displayed to us the dreary suburbs.
Commuters dozed, or read,
or quietly talked, and glanced at us
with cryptic expressions.)
Im so proud of what weve achieved!
- but weve sacrificed so much.
The Revolution took my father and two uncles,
and my mother went from typhus;
I cant remember how many loved ones
perished during the siege ....
(She paused, and in the gap we looked down,
unable to meet her eyes,
fearing what shed say next.)
My husband; he was a soldier.
He died on the way to Berlin,
- like so many, so many;
after the war -
my two sons died as well -
and my only daughter disappeared ....
It was Gods will.....
(Another pause; their fates went unexplained.
I glanced shyly at her smart
well-cut raincoat, her well-groomed grey hair.)
Sacrifices! She sighed, but her hard eyes
did not fill with tears. A thin smile;
Things are better now; theyll be better still, - soon
(We looked straight into those eyes as the train
slowed, and she stood up to leave.
Her back was straight, determined.)
Tell your countrymen -
things are getting better all the time here,
- and one day theyll be better in the West.
davicletay 1/2004
