Deconstruction
Like Komsomol shock-workers, twenty men
mix sand and cement, load it into barrows,
lay bricks. They saw wood, hammer nails,
don’t ask for payment. Egor and Muso
carry glass. Two streets away
the fighting’s hand-to-hand. Egor worked
for 20 years building in Siberia. He was happy,
came home only weeks before the enemy
marched in. I stay at his house. All night
gunfire and screaming.
Next morning, someone has waited patiently
until every frame was glazed. Now
all are shattered; roof, plumbing, kitchen
ransacked. Once again, the refugee centre can’t open.
It’s a tragedy, he sighs. We cross the yard
in silence, checking for mines,
pull shrapnel from the new walls.
The night watchman lies shot. A yellow dog
gnaws his thigh. Egor shouts,
throws rocks. The man calls for water.
Page(s) 31
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