Summer In Russia
By Patrick Durham
Copyright 2012 Patrick Durham
Smashwords edition
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the long corridor
form the plane
where we were met
with solid steel doors
and soldiers slung
with sub-machine guns
while they yelled out
for our passports and papers
foreigners
let the returning Russians through first
they continued barking at the crowd
all papers were checked
once through the door
I knew
I had finally stepper
on the soil
of Mother Russia
I remember walking into Red Square
it was one in the morning
and hadn't been off the plane for very long
I was amazed the grand structures
St. Basil's
Kremlin
Lenin's Tomb
the great stone monolith
and a large brick dais in the left corner
it somehow looked like a fountain
with the water works gutted out
I asked someone what it was
he told me that it was once used for public executions
it lay right across form the tombs of the premiers
and those deemed honorable enough
from spectacular accomplishments
for the mother country
the first cosmonaut lay near the Communist leaders
flowers across its many graves
and Stalin's contained the most
revered yet hated
still loved and mourned
these stones tread upon by
monarchs
socialists
dictators
democrats
capitalists
Washington Square couldn't compare
with the Capitol and all its monuments
this was government first and foremost
yet a place for the people
no tanks
no gunfire
no bloodshed now