Friday 9 May 2014

Iron Fist



I love Putin she often says
as beguiling smile spreads
like rays of rising sun
‘cross her oft troubled face. 

This day, now, we lie lazily on her bed
as news of Ukraine
fills breadth and depth of TV screen and she,
mischievously, tugs at me;
she sings then asks: What language that? 

Russian I reply (with friendly smile).  

And thunder cracks the twinkle from her eyes
and she screams: 
My God I hate, despise you,    hate hate hate!
You’re stuck inside my f*cking head.
I’m gonna kill myself, be dead dead dead!
(And snarl parts her lips and venom spits.) 

Oops, wrong answer (thinks I)
and cross arms to cushion blows aimed at chest. 
C’mon I say, we’re friends; but diatribe persists
and she flies at me with flailing fists
and I get up to leave, say:
I won’t listen to this anymore;
and ignore her jibes and walk away.

Elsewhere, a million miles away,
in Donetsk, Kramatorsk or some other city, town,
she sits forlorn, (another troubled soul)
fists in futile fury curled,
scorned by those who wish to separate
those once she viewed as welcome friends;
she wants an end to it, an end to it all,
but fears it will end   as in the past,
the days of old
where peace was wrapped constrained
in iron grip of fist of bitter cold.

I hate this, I hate hate hate this
(she thinks) and sinks into her misery.

Anna :o]

Claudia at  at dVerse  has us writing of conversation/dialogue in poetry and above is my take on it.

The little lady first featured was singing her rendition of Kalinka and she was annoyed I recognised the language.  She, not Russian herself, firmly believes she is, a member of the higher echelons no less, who enjoys the ear (and she –she would have you believe, the bed) of Putin.  Her dearest wish is that Putin will enter Kiev, triumphant, with the entire ‘Red Army’ close behind him singing Kalinka to their hearts content…

This world is full of a multitude of madness’s and the second little lady exists in the real madness that is Ukraine.  Listen to some of the unheard voices and wonder what mad political games the superpowers are playing…anywhere and everywhere in this world of ours...

PS I love the Red Army Choir, just love it; introduced to the magnificence of their wonderful voices at the city hall of  the city in which I lived as a spotty teenager – I have loved and listened every since.  Of the video – those idiots cavorting round the stage should be shot at dawn – how in this age we cheapen the beautiful…   

Also entered today (11.05.14) at the Poetry Pantry at Poets United - thanks to Mary for hosting.

Video:  Courtesy of YouTube

24 comments:

Brian Miller said...

wow. that has to be a hard one to deal with...especially consumed with her madness and illusions and her willingness to get physical as well...ugh...i would def be careful around that one...not unlike some of the kids that i have counseled...

Grace said...

That's a challenge to handle, as people with a mindset have their own kind of "madness" no one can understand ~ I think Putin is a clever & dangerous leader though ~

Sumana Roy said...

nice thoughts depicting various moods centering on political issues...

Claudia said...

oh heck... that sounds like she had a difficult past in is kinda trapped in her memories with a good deal of confusion as well... as much as i feel sorry for her, she scares me in a way...

Anonymous said...

what is up with those "dancers" in the video? bizarre

as to madness, what's the old saw, when the world's mad, it's an appropriate response?

I like the use of rhyme throughout, and the sudden change between the first woman and the second. ~

Mary said...

I am with Claudia. This kind of madness is frightening. Your poem is a great capture...

brudberg said...

Wanting to voice in word of reason and balance.. one cannot argue... I still recall the situation where you had to take a stance... and I had hopes for a balanced word.. but now I'm scared.. I wonder if we play with matches in the armory... to be honest I'm scared.

ADDY said...

There has never been a period when there hasn't been conflict somewhere in the world. When will the human race learn? And how can an army by its very nature sing something so beautiful?

Charlotte said...

You took a difficult situation and turned it into a stunning piece of work. Bravo!

Gabriella said...

Strong nationalism can lead to extremes as it prevents us from seeing the other. Extremes frighten me.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Wow, intense viewpoints and emotions in this. The power plays going on with Putin are quite frightening to me.

HA said...

Oh! That was hard-hitting. The perspectives and viewpoints change things considerably. Taking a balanced stand over political issues become necessary because the extreme favor or disfavor evokes sentiments which are not easily controllable.

Those are the political players stringing the pawns, as we wonder what they are going to do next which would only harm the people.

Powerful narrative, powerful story, powerful writing.

Vandana Sharma said...

Politics!!! the good , the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, all in one package!!!

Susan said...

Your video illustrates much of what I like in Russian music and performance. And in my first reading--before your explanation--I thought, yes, this is how we live the contradictions! Can we accept beauty from a proponent of aggression? I saw her fists as a self-hatred, one that the second woman woman in the midst of latent death can ill afford. The explanation makes the story more complex and adds madness. I do not fully understand. Perhaps the whole would be like Hitler's mistress having a love/hate relationship to Leni Riefenstahl? Those are times and rooms I cannot get myself to enter, more poor I.

Natašek said...

interesting one, many different things put together, and the contrast between our now and the now in ukraine.

Glenn Buttkus said...

Tyrannts, dictators, feudal lords, asshole bosses; we are surrounded by their ego, bile, & military. It seems that every the media has to hunt for that mere scrap of good news. Liked your use of the prompt; thanks.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

What a deep and powerful write.......you have depicted madness so clearly - erupting with no provocation.......two intense portraits - so well done, Anna.

Laurie Kolp said...

Powerful, Anna!

Jenny Woolf said...

I'd find it so disconcerting to get reactions like that. I guess I would get used to it if I worked with it long enough. I like your point about madness within and outside the head.

ZQ said...

Very interesting dichotomy. Well expressed to be understood. Good piece.
ZQ

Jinksy said...

fists in futile fury curled

Too many of these in the world today...

Preeti S. said...

"the days of old
where peace was wrapped constrained
in iron grip of fist of bitter cold."

I believe that I have lived a sheltered life, away from conflicts and confrontations of such magnitude. It does limit my understanding of the whole matter but there is only so much that I can do to form an opinion. Whatever be the outcome, the situation in Ukraine is very complex. As usual, the fate of an entire population is being decided by a handful of people who might or might not think of the interests of the whole. But then again, I do not know much.

I really enjoyed reading this. :)

Heidi said...

I like the contrast between the types of madness, and the conversational/storytelling fell that draws you into what is scary in both of these women's lives. Very cool write sweet Anna :o] !

Heidi said...

I like the contrast between the types of madness, and the conversational/storytelling fell that draws you into what is scary in both of these women's lives. Very cool write sweet Anna :o] !