Snowflakes were 2 inches across today briefly, now it's stopped. Click on image for larger view."And may the melting snow drop like tears
From my motionless bronze eyelids,
And the prison pigeons coo above me
And the ships sail slowly down the Neva"
- Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), excerpt from "Requiem"
Please go to the embedded link "Requiem" and read this poem about Stalinist prison camp life in Russia. This was part of the reality of Akhmatova's world which she did not fear to write about. Her husband was killed in one of the camps. This poem was not published in Russia until after her death, and of course after Stalin's death.
This was part of our world in the 20th century, one of the most horrible centuries in human history.
I don't publish this to depress you or me. I don't live in the past. I just don't want to forget how hard life has been for some.
Be sure to check in at Paris Deconstructed, where I publish a new post once or twice a week. (I had taken a hiatus but decided I couldn't stay away!)
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