Cossack Romanticism

Due to the ceaseless requests of my three fans to resume posting, and my procrastination in the face of graduate school applications, I now present a poem, which I composed in Sapphic meter. I had read nothing but novels about Cossacks and Cowboys in the months leading up to this, and they clearly tainted the color of my ink. Enjoy.

Grisha, brother, where is your horse? Upon warm-

Browed and snorting marvels you flashed like lightning.

Now, in place of steeds a machine with cold black

Oil in its steel veins.

Shod in rubber, clothed in exhaust, the sparks of

Life are just sparks. Clockwork alone feigns God’s great

Gift. My friend! Leave it by the wayside! Now, take

Back what has long passed!

Flesh and blood and glistening mane on four strong

Legs you drive. The damp earth is upturned by pared hooves.

Charging home, a whisper, a dream inscribes your

Soul with its birth-right.