Author Information
Names Washed Away Long Ago
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Twisted Branches The acid rain
of their polluted
existence erodes
their chiseled expressions
Living, breathing
killing tombstones
aging misleaders,
that just won't die
themselves
Though their name
and any honor in it
washed away
a long time ago
They desperately try
to chisel at the stone that's left
But it seems to me
that murder and greed
often wears the face of death
Nadezhda's only ready
for public in her dreams
Those who live in castles
built of blood bricks
cannot avoid the drops infiltrating their make up kits
Built them not mansions,
neither surround with jail bars
Give only houses of mirrors
wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor
leaving Cole's tapestry of self-destruction flooding all the halls
of their existence ever more
Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskya
.
She lived 15 years longer than Vlad. Aristicrat with passion to help the poor of Russia. A particular hero of mine. Never read much exceot she went on long hikes with Lenin. May try to find her in translation. She was Lenin's transcriptionist. An autobio would have been fab. Wonder what records and correspondence Kremlin is sitting on?
.
~A~
Interesting
Have to say that her dark side was way too dark for me. She supported her husbands decision to murder of the Czar's whole family, including children, and the infamous "red terror". She also intentionally ommitted both events in her biography on Lenin's life, after he died. Additionally, she seemed to back out of supporting Trotsky to protect herself when Stalin's faction was seeking to take firm control of the USSR (not that Trotsky was necessarily a good guy, either).
Lady A . . . please forgive
Lady A . . . please forgive me for unintentonally making disparaging comments about one of your heros. Especially during this particular week, and its spiritual significance, I feel very foolish. My anger toward Krupskaya has been a kind of collateral damage created by the outrage, even a centruy later, at the murders of four adolescent girls, a prepubescent boy who was a hemopheliac, and his dog by a bunch of thugs. I think those holy martyrs would have me put away my resentment toward even the murderous Bolsheviks---all of them. After all, Christ commanded blanket forgiveness; He did not grant me, or any Christian, the privilege of conditional or truncated forgiveness. So, just as I made remarks about Krupskaya openly at postpoems, without knowing that she was a hero of yours, so I will gladly (especially as Pascha draws just days nearer) and openly admit that I was wrong. while similtaneously asking your forgiveness for my self-righteousness (it is one of my major, and habitual, failings, as my friend Stephen Brewerton can attest. The more of my postpoems neighbors who know of this failing, the sooner my faith will compel me to start on amending the flaw.
So, again, I ask for your forgiveness for offhand remarks that were hurtful and immature. I shall do my best to ensure that it does not happen again.
Thank you for considering my request.
Starward
Starward
Thanks for the mention. The
Thanks for the mention. The poem, as I said when you gave me an advance look, is excellent. I do have a question that I was in no condition to ask last night. Who are Nadezhka and Cole?
Starward
You're welcome. Much thanks
You're welcome. Much thanks to you, in return, for the interesting exchange of thoughts, in addition to the inspiration.
As for Nadezhda (I mistakenly spelled it with a 'k' and have to correct that) and Cole. Nadezhda was the given name of Vladimir Lenin's Wife. Cole refers to Thomas Cole, painter of the brilliant tapestry "The Course of Empire: Destruction", which I was lucky enough to get to see at The Met, years back.
OK, Krupskaya. I missed that
OK, Krupskaya. I missed that altogether. In my defense, I plead being hospitalized and being a little dopey with pain meds right now. But not enough to miss the brilliance of your poem.
Starward
Oh, you're fine, no worries.
Oh, you're fine, no worries. It's good to see you at least well enough to provide the contribution of both your presence and your poetry here. Hopefully, likewise, a place to help you navigate this time, as well.
Thank you. My email failed
Thank you. My email failed to notify me of this reply you made, quite graciously, and that is why I am seeing it four days late---for which I apologize. Tomorrow, I will be released to go home, just days before Orthodox Easter. Although I will have to watch it on a streaming service, I will at least be home to do so.
Starward