30 Days of Ukrainian Poetry - Day 25 - "By the Khreshchatyk Metro"

Day 25, and we're in the final stretch of 30 Days of Ukrainian Poetry! I feel like I'm going to have to go back through and read all these poems again so I can remember them.

In the meantime, there are still a few more days ahead of poetry - including today, of course. Today I'm sharing a poem I picked out a while back and saved for a day when I'd be able to read it on site, in the very place it describes. It's by poet Vasyl Stus. I got a strong notion in my head about a week and a half ago that I wanted to share something by him, but I haven't gotten to it until now because some of his stuff is rather complicated (although today's is pretty simple in terms of language).

Vasyl Stus was an active member of the dissident intelligentsia that was both very active in the 1960s, and heavily persecuted. He wrote many of his poems from Soviet forced labor camps where he was sent as punishment several times, and where he eventually died due to the inhumane conditions. He is quoted as equating life in the Soviet Union with slavery.

While many of his poems reflect the harsh reality of life in the gulag, today's verse is from happier times in Kyiv: a short little portrait of daily life in the city. I love that in his poem he appreciates what he sees without romanticizing or glamorizing it; he just recognizes and shares the life around him in a way that is vivid and beautiful simply as it is.

Бiля метро “Хрещатик” 

Василь Стус

Бiля метро “Хрещатик” 
щоранку зупиняється 
дитячий вiзок. 
Двiрничка вибирає з чавунних урн 
накиданий мотлох — 
старi газети, ганчiр'я, 
коробки з-пiд сiрникiв, недокурки, 
навантажить ними вiзок 
i сквером каштанiв рушає далi. 
А сьогоднi, напередоднi свята, 
вона вбрала найкращу спiдницю з сатину, 
новенькi черевики й фуфайку, 
навiть вiзок прикрасила 
штучними квiтами з поролону. 
Усмiшка й задума на її обличчi 
творить рiвновагу щастя. 

By the Khreshchatyk Metro

Vasyl Stus

Every morning
a children's stroller stops
by the Khreshchatyk Metro.
The groundskeeper selects discarded junk
from the metal trash cans - 
empty  matchboxes, cigarette butts, 
she loads these onto her cart
and moves along across the square beneath the chestnut trees.
Today is the day before a holiday,
and she has dressed in her finest satin skirt, 
new boots and a sweater, 
she has even decorated her stroller
with artificial foam flowers. 
The smile and thoughtfulness on her face
create a balance of happiness. 

Since I was in Kyiv today, I was able to head to the metro station described in this poem, and do my reading there.

And here is another reading, this time by Vitaliy Linetsky.

Greetings from Kyiv! Tomorrow I'll be back downriver a ways, at site and ready to finish out our month of poetry in the coming days.




The content of this blog reflects my personal views and experiences only and not those of Peace Corps or the governments of the US or Ukraine.