Russian Wallpaper

Russian Wallpaper. (poem) My room was in the student dorms at Herzen University in St. Petersburg. I was in a suite, with a shared bath. It was a classic Russian, Soviet-style arrangement, with a woman who minded the floor, kept the keys, helped organize laundry, explained the protocols and procedures. The building had seen better days, and needed some maintenance. My room had wallpaper, but it was vintage 1960s, and was peeling from the wall. The view of the canals along the Neva River was interesting. I was just down the street from Nevsky Prospekt and the Kazansky Cathedral where I saw young heroin addict shooting up and prostitutes changing clothes.

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RUSSIAN WALLPAPER

Afternoon breeze comes in

if invited,

sheer curtains flutter,

if disquieted --

my heart

like paisley wallpaper

peeling but proud,

velvet fires

somewhere around my shoulder

somewhere a memory slipping away

I talk to you all night

the surface

smooth & sticky with spills

and conversations

just another bar

just another star

I've lost my way

under the moon & stars

navigating the southern breezes

the sheer curtains blur the tracks

I leave behind

our path stretching ahead

like a teardrop

sliding down a cloud

curtains flutter

when air is in motion

my hands hold you

when I feel emotion

trying to paste ourselves back

like Russian wallpaper

falling to the floor