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Скорее выздоровливайте! O city of kempt and unkempt faces.
How are these rivers not mirrors enough?
lady of the swamp, twice built,
and when will your festering scars heal?
Where has your aged grace gone?
crystal-crested queen of the frozen moment,
and what has this melting to do with you?
Why won’t your children stop building?
babushka of borrowed, bought, and bottled water,
Зачем внуки твои еще рисуют?
Two months and three days
passed away as easily as I’ll forget
this gray day’s final attempt at rain,
the ephemeral stain of this fleeting christening
baptizing me slightly darker than before
But I’ll not forget this cold shore,
the ceaseless downpour of moments puddling into hours
collected in the streams of repetitive days
washed away to the cold sea bordering this city
leaving me a little cleaner than before
Soon I’ll stand motionless in one moment,
these movements, frozen by winter’s arrival
The bright white illusion of time’s relief,
of my belief in the beautiful singularity slowly drifting towards me
making me a little colder than before
In many parts of what is now called the Russian Federation, and the rest of what was once called the USSR, there was an extensive attempt to instill a Soviet identity into a highly reluctant populace. In Siberia this project proved especially difficult, as the land was expansive and its inhabits had always been effectively self-governed, with loyalty only to those close to them (if that).
One vital part of this attempt was the erasure of Siberians’ heritage and ancestry , from which many drew their identity. With the destruction of their identity rooted in the past, Siberians would be forced to embrace the present, and look towards the Soviet future, together.
The most troubling manifestation of this ethnocide was the widespread construction of amusement parks on top of the graveyards where Siberians’ families, history, and identity rested. There is perhaps no more beautiful expression of the union between Siberia’s past and the Soviet future.
Many of these parks are still in use today, and though most headstones were removed, a few can still be seen if you look closely.
