TAKEN 1933.

A WOMAN IN SOVIET RUSSIA IN 1933.

When you returned they
Were waiting for you:
A man and woman
In black clothes, with that

Officialism
About them, that look
Of eyes and stance. Your
Clothes had gone; the oak

Wardrobe and chest of
Draws had been emptied.
There were only the
Clothes laid on the bed:

A grey dress, stockings,
Underwear, an old
Cardigan. Put those
On, the woman said,

Pointing to the bed.
In front of him? You
Said, indicating
The man. The man turned

To face the window,
His hands clutched behind
His ramrod back like
An angry father.

The woman stood and
Watched you undress then
Dress again in an
Icy silence, then

Took the clothes you had
Taken off and placed
Them in a bag at
Her feet. The man turned

Around and grunted
At you to walk to
The door. What of my
Children? They are at

School, you said. They are
No more your concern,
The woman replied,
Pushing you towards

The door. Stealing rye
Is a crime, the man
Said. My children were
Starving, you replied.

Are your children then
Special? What of the
Other children of
The State? If all stole,

Where would the country
Be? You looked up at
The dull wall as you
Walked towards the door,

Stalin’s eyes followed
You from his cheaply
Framed photo above
The bed. Was there cold

Humour there? Or was
It just a trick of
Light playing with your
Eyes and heart and head?

Reviews

[Another Relic]

Very moving piece as always Terry. Very sad as well.

[Terry Collett]

Maria Tchebotareva tried to feed her four hungry children during the massive 1932-1933 famine. The peasant mother, it was claimed, stole 3lbs of rye from her former field which had been confiscated by the state as part of collectivisation. The Soviet authorities sentenced her to ten years in the Gulag. When her sentence expired in 1943, it was arbitrarily extended until the end of the war in 1945. After her release, she was required to live in exile near her Gulag camp north of the Arctic Circle, and she was not able to return home until after the death of Stalin in 1953. Maria Tchebotareva never found her children after her release.