Those Born In The Years Of Stagnation

Those born in the years of stagnation
forget now how they found their way.
We ~ children of Russia’s tribulation ~
forget not a year, not a day.

What message, years of conflagration,
have you: madness or hope? On thin
cheeks trained by war and liberation
bloody reflections still remain.

Dumbness remains! ~ alarm bells clanging
have clapped all other tongues in chains.
In hearts, familiar once with singing,
a fateful emptiness remains.

And what if dark above our death-bed,
cawing, the ravens climb ~
Let those more worth, God, O God,
see your kingdom in their time.

8 Sept 1914