Short St Petersburg Poems

ST.   PETERSBURG   IN   JANUARY



Frozen stillness of canals:
Venice    in   aspic.

Golden-domed church......
Heaven’s    bulbs    auric.

Palaces everywhere  -
History   majestic....

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Whether you are in St. Petersburg or Moscow,
if you want to thank someone, here's how:
To any native citizen of Russia,
all you have to say is "spassiba".
In return, they will say "pazhalusta".
...

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The St. Petersburg river Neva
has sunk into yellow birches,
The St. Petersburg river Neva
has sunk into quivering aspens,
And into the dark-blue eyes of one woman.
River Neva has dressed up into autumn,
River Neva has decorated herself with gold leaves.
She thinks about something with smile -
Summer will come back again....

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DAY   AND   NIGHT

In winter, our northern days are almost banished 
The night is like a big black cat at bay
The daylight  sky has almost vanished
The day’s a  timid grey mouse afraid to play



Note:  

Poet  lives in St. Petersburg, Russia, latitude  60 N  -    about the same as 
Anchorage, Alaska,   or Yellowknife, Canada...

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CINDERELLA  CITY

St. Petersburg is lovelier than Paris as a city,
As anyone visiting  both cities will agree.
Like two fine women,  but one has more money, 
More friends to boast of her charm, make her plea. 

The other, poorer and in need of a dress,
Works hard, survives, and  is cheerful.
All she lacks is a godmother wonderful 
And Cinderella city becomes a Princess....

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Standing outside the St. Petersburg palace gate,
I am withstanding the cold as I patiently wait.
May I be lucky enough to see the daughter of the Tsar.
Men throughout Europe realize how beautiful you are.
On this cold winter night, you can shine like a star.
The youngest of four sisters, you are unreachable royalty.
I know that a date with you can never be.
After all, you can do better than a peasant boy like me.
...

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These are very bad times for our nation.
We are in a very dire situation.
Our tsar is not in his palace anymore,
since our country is embroiled in a war.
The tsar is supervising the front line armament.
In St. Petersburg, a mad man is heading our government.
The tsarina is very difficult to convince
since Rasputin has hypnotic power over the prince.
We must come to the aid of Mother Russia.
Let’s murder that little monkey from Siberia.
...

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