Thursday, June 16, 2011

Timeless Sergiyevskoye – A Poem

When the day is done
When the house is near quiet
She switches on her lamp
And picks up the book
That contains her family’s story
And begins to read

She plays in the halls in the manor house
Next to the brick church
She plays Padrida with her family in the summer
And runs to the shimmering Oka River
She laughs in the winter-time
To help fend off the freezing snow and cold

She cries when the church is ripped down
And flees from the burning manor house
She sits by the letter-writer
Trapped in the Gulag

She looks for the light
In Russia’s darkest hours
She follows her family’s history
Collected together by her uncle
She finds the answers
To her long unasked questions

When the clock strikes twelve
When the only sound is the soft footfalls of her cats
She switched off her lamp
And puts down the book
That contains her family’s story
And plays the story over in her mind as she sleeps

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I'd like to explain this poem. I am currently reading Echoes of a Native Land - Two Centuries of a Russian Village. It was written by one of my family members, and is the story of my family's history in Russia. The village in which this takes place was called Sergiyevskoye, now Koltsovo. Yes, those are hard to pronounce, and I'm sorry that I can't explain how to. I myself do not speak Russian. I can pronounce it OK if I see the words written in English, but my mum had to help me pronounce Sergiyevskoye. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the poem.

9 comments:

  1. Thank you so much Kallista. I'm glad you enjoyed it ^^

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  2. It seems like bring a talented writer runs in the family! It's a very beautiful poem Thalia, I want to give that girl a hug right now... Wonderful writing, I can't wait to see more from you!

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  3. Thanks so much Mir!

    (the girl is actually me, y'know, reading the book)

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  4. Okay, than I will give you a hug~ *glomps Thalia and gives her a rib crushing bear hug*

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  5. *struggles in the grasp of the Mir*

    C-can't...breathe....

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  6. *claps*

    Yaaaaay!

    *looks at word trying to say it*

    Serviyokski?

    Or...Serviyavoskya?

    ...huh. That IS a hard word...

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  7. Thanks Mar!

    Well...it's sort of like...Sair-gevs-koi-ya. With a Russian accent.

    'Koi' as in the fish.

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