February 2011 - page 8

Everything

Everything’s looted, betrayed and traded,

black death’s wing’s overhead.

Everything’s eaten by hunger,

unsated,so why does a light shine ahead?

By day, a mysterious wood,

near the town,breathes out cherry, a cherry perfume.

By night, on July’s sky, deep, and transparent,

new constellations are thrown.

And something miraculous will come

close to the darkness and ruin,

something no-one, no-one, has known,

though we’ve longed for it since we were children.

Anna Akhmatova