Spring 2003 was when Dr. Dzho-Anna Poppadomova discovered REAL Russian-but-not-Russian poetry on the Internet. She was hit immediately by a surge of inspiration and decided to join the prestigious elite that form that particular group, which will no longer be identified by a specific metal as this has become too banal. Other materials were thought to be used, such as asphalt, cement, brick, etc.

May we now present you

the Asphalt Era of Russian poetry

aсфальтный век русской поэзии

A patterned headscarf

Dreamlike, we traversed the ice: breathing
air like crystals, pure and white.
Virginal, like brides; sweet like pirozhki* ,
On the vertiginous edge of the world.

Our hands clasped, fingers intertwined like snakes,
Our white pure breath commingled like communion wine
with my blood

Life waited round the corner like a kidnapper,
a dashing officer, ready to snatch
You from your true love.

You are wrapped in furs and bundled on his troika.
A scream: of joy or fright? The bells ring and clamour like Beethoven and I see
Your patterned headscarf dream-bright against the snow.

Please, dorogaya** , where have you gone? Don't leave me.

*A type of Russian pie
**"My darling" (Russ.)

the poem below was especially commissioned by Dr. Velkrova, at an extortionate charge, may I add, in loving memory of the celebration of the olfactory sense whilst in the Russian metro

Metro

Night. Metro. Crowded car. In the heat
And the crush of the herdlike crowd
You press against my flesh. Screeching
Like a Baba Yaga* , the train slows down.

The next stop will be Pushkin Square!

Like a Muse, invoked by wine and genius
You rise against the tide of headscarves:
Like Moses you part the sea to pass.

Turning, you smile against the stars.
You raise your arm in parting but do not wave.

And as the doors close and you are lost in hymns of speed and steel
Your earthlike scent surrounds me like a pungent mist.

*Witch from traditional Russian fairy tales

The diamond below is the Star of India in the crown of poesia. Straight from the dead brain cells of Mayakovsky...

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