Sunday, July 20, 2008

invoking Elza Ahkmerova * (april 2008)

i am no undercover.
i have no overcoat, 
no secret overthrow, 
no cypher for his code.
Here's the Rachmaninoff,
Shivago,
and i'll pour the Stolichnaya.

O Elza, inside this freezing drift
if our breath becomes steam
and our hands span iron curtains
and steely monuments do rise,
where do i hide when sovereign walls fall crashing?
why are mausoleums built - but to house the dead?

O Elza! The cold will bind my heart!
I swear, a warm lake lies 
under this icy lot.
This Red Square 
is on fire!
I know a raging river lies beneath it!

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