peter the great statue

– Somewhere in a park in St Petersburg, Russia

We are all sitting around

Peter the Great.

At his feet memorial flowers still

holding on to its faded glory.

Folk songs braid with bird song

up in the tree tops.

The children carousel the heavy bronze,

even the sailors loosen their upper buttons.

Peter still proudly commands the

heavy putty grey ships,

anchored in front of his metal gaze.

The fleet stares back at the commotion

and sigh for a job well done.

we sing without pretense

we play without inhibitions

we enjoy the sun without being vain

Later as the accordion notes and the collective voices

ebb and clash with birds, footsteps and breeze –

the soldiers return unwillingly to their bunks.

by Anja Marais