Electrification of Udelnaya Market

ELECTRIFICATION OF UDELNAYA MARKET Thank goodness New glass steel towers are cleaning up the mess Of Udelnaya market. Traffic was too fast * Street is pedestrianised and bypassed Bright lights are lit and a secret lover Can no longer be met under the dark trees cover. 5:30 pm and the cherry girl is no more Only her wooden stall and empty boxes at the door Near the musicians in the street Still slowly tapping their feet The off-key folksinger (bit of an alcohol smell) And the old lady who can sing on key and well. Chinese tee-shirts selling for 40 roubles in a paper packet In glass steel shops are 400 (in cellophane jacket). The knife man is gone, with his machetes, kukris, Bayonets , hunting knives, switchblades, bowies, Now it’s a telephone shop Buy anything with only a five minute stop. The little café run by the Tadjiks * Where you’d get real piping-hot shashliks Is now a computer store And there’s going to be more. The steam baths are closed, no hot and cold sprays And DVD players are on sale there( 20% off always). Floating up still is a child’s balloon From the toy stall, to be burst soon - Spiked to death on the microwave antenna tower Which delivers such telephonic power. Traffic thundered past in concentrations Drowning out conversations In the tiny kiosk where I used to find Dresses for my wife - just the right kind. All this chaos is almost gone (thank goodness) Muddy in the summer, in winter icy-treacherous. Steel and glass windows reflect the bright And penetrating electric light. 5:45 and it’s almost closing time. ………………………………………………… NOTE *Udelnaya is a colorful older district in inner St. Petersburg, which had an extensive and hugely interesting market, including all sorts of goods, new and second hand, where a great deal of haggling and general chit chat took place. Now sadly being redeveloped. *Tadjiks are people from Tadjikistan, one of the former republics in the USSR. Many Tadjiks live and work in St. Petersburg. Their cuisine is exotic and tasty.